Tirumalai Krishnamacharya was born on 18 November 1888 in Muchukundapuram village, Chitradurga district to T. Sreenivasa Thathacharya and Ranganayakamma. They were orthodox brahmins hailing from Tirupati (Tirumalai) and were descendants of Yogi Nathamuni – a famed 9th century Sri Vaishnava saint. Krishnamacharya’s father was a great exponent of the Vedas. An ancestor in the family line had been a chief pontiff of the Parakala Matha. Krishnamacharya was the eldest of six children. He had two younger brothers – Narayana and Appalacharya & three younger sisters – Alamelu, Tangamma and Chudamani. The family spoke in Telugu at home and were fluent in Sanskrit also.

Early Years & Education
Tirumalai Krishnamacharya’s circle of friends included Rallapalli Ananta Krishna Sharma, Bagepalli Sreenivasacharya, Laxmipuram Sreenivasacharya and Tirukulagundam Sudarshanacharya – all renowned exponents of music, Sanskrit and Vedanta in their own right! His father taught him Sanskrit at home. Among the precious few things handed down to Krishnamacharya was a treasured volume of Valmiki’s Ramayana (in Sanskrit). This was held in reverence by his grandfather and would remain by Krishnamacharya’s side till his very end.

Krishnamacharya’s family moved to Mysore when he was 12 years of age. He joined Parakala Matha for his studies. Here, he spent time between 1909 and 1914 learning Logic (Tarka) and Vedanta among other things. During these years, he also learnt Veena from Vidwan Veena Seshanna.

In 1914, he set out to Benaras, where he continued further studies in Sanskrit & Tarka (logic) from Brahmasri Shivakumar Sastry. He attended classes at Queen’s college under Sri Vamanaċara Bhattacharya and Sri Ganganatha Jha. In a class of 60 candidates, he and two others passed the exam. During these years, he worked part-time as a tutor to the Dean’s son. He further continued his Yoga practice under Sri Babu Bhagavan Das. During this period, he studied six Darshanas, Vedanta, Purva-Mīmāṃsā, Uttara-Mīmāṃsā, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya and Yoga. Following this, he took exams in Samkhya and Yoga at Patna University as a private student. At this juncture, he approached Ganganatha Jha with a desire to pursue advanced Yoga training. Jha advised him to travel beyond Nepal to Tibet and meet a yogi by name Ram Mohan Brahmasri at Rammohan Ashram.

Before crossing the border into Nepal, Krishnamacharya was advised to seek special permission from the British Government. Ganganatha Jha arranged a special meeting with the then Viceroy & Governor General of India – Lord Hardinge. The Viceroy, quite impressed with Krishnamacharya’s demeanour asked him as to how much Yoga he actually knew? Krishnamacharya answered that while his knowledge was probably inadequate to teach his fellow countrymen, it was sufficient to teach foreigners! The Viceroy requested that Krishnamacharya first spend six months with him and help him get his diabetes under control. Krishnamacharya accepted this and spent the next six months teaching various asanas & vinyasas to the Viceroy. Surprisingly, his diabetes came under control and he felt years younger. Delighted, the Viceroy summoned his secretary and instructed him to provide all help to Krishnamacharya on his voyage and furthermore made it clear that a private escort be appointed for his safety. When Krishnamacharya was about to leave, the Viceroy shook his hands and requested that he visit him frequently to guide him in his yogic practices.

On his way to Tibet, Krishnamacharya made it a point to visit the Muktinarayana shrine and bathe in the river Gandaki, where he found a saligrama. From here onwards, he made his way to Manasa Sarovar to find his teacher.

Sri Rammohan Brahmasri welcomed Krishnamacharya at his ashram in Tibet and taught him Yoga for nearly 8 years. Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (by his own admission) learnt close to 3000 asanas from his guru who apparently was adept at 7000 + asanas! His mentor also made sure that Krishnamacharya was well versed in Patanjali’s Yoga sutras. At the end of his training, Krishnamacharya asked his teacher, as to what he could provide as the customary Gurudakshina (token of gratitude from the student to the teacher). The reply he received was thus: “Take a wife, raise children and be a teacher of Yoga to the World…”! Krishnamacharya bowed in veneration and took leave of him from Tibet. His guru presented him with his personal wooden sandals (paduka) as a token of remembrance. Krishnamacharya would treasure this till his very end and is believed to have kept them over his head every morning, before beginning his Yoga practice.

Krishnamacharya returned to India in 1922. He continued his studies in the Darshanas from various schools and illustrious teachers across Allahabad (present day Prayagraj), Calcutta, Patna and Baroda. His University dissertations were often so good, that they eventually got incorporated into the curriculum there! In one of these Universities, there was a four day long exam and Krishnamacharya was among the four candidates shortlisted to take it. After his day one exam, the examiners huddled together in a meeting and decided unanimously that Krishnamacharya need not put himself through the three remaining days of the exam!

Similarly, when Krishnamacharya decided to take the Mīmāṃsā Tirtha examination at Calcutta, Lakshmana Sastri & Anantakrishna Sastri were opposed to him being allowed to sit for the exam without completing the mandatory four years tenure. But, Sri Chandrachud Tarka Teerth – then Professor of Logic (Tarka) spoke in favour of Krishnamacharya and facilitated him to take the exam in nine months’ time in 1923. In the final chapter of the viva-voce examinations, Anantakrishna Sastri (who had previously opposed waiving the four year course tenure) abruptly ended the exam after hearing Krishnamacharya’s majestic exposition of “Sabara Bhasya (a commentary on Mīmāṃsā)” and said Krishnamacharya had passed in flying colours! Krishnamacharya’s treatise “Mantra Padartha Tattva Nirnaya” won him the titles “Mīmāṃsā Ratna” and “Nyayaċarya”.

Of course, such displays of knowledge bordering on genius, did not go without making others jealous. Some of his classmates often went to the extent of poisoning his food or faking telegrams from home (declaring some emergency), so that Krishnamacharya would drop out of the exam!

A Magical Mystical Recollection
Krishnamacharya’s family were believed to be descendants of Nathamuni (at Alvar Tirunagari town). When Krishnamacharya’s father introduced him to Yoga at five years of age, Krishnamacharya fostered a desire to visit Alvar Tirunagari. Fearing that it would be a long sojourn, Krishnamacharya’s father denied permission. By age 10, Krishnamacharya lost his father and decided to make the long awaited trip to Alvar Tirunagari, nonetheless. Upon reaching there, Krishnamacharya sat under a tree looking for someone to ask further directions. Here, he found an old man with a long beard smiling at him. Krishnamacharya asked him if he could meet Nathamuni himself. The old man showed his hand across the river to a mangrove forest and said one would find Nathamuni there. Krishnamacharya crossed the river and made his way through the dense mangrove forest. He was ecstatic to find Nathamuni seated there among other sages and upon seeing him, requested him to teach him Yoga Rahasyas. Nathamuni gladly obliged and taught him in beautiful musical verse. By now, Krishnamacharya was exhausted and passed out in a deep slumber. When he came around, he could neither find the bearded old man nor any evidence to indicate that he had indeed crossed the river! Even more interestingly, Krishnamacharya realised that the old man with the beard and Nathamuni in the mangrove forest, were one and the same. But he now knew all the Yoga Rahasyas, in melodious musical notations!

Personal Life
Krishnamacharya came back to Mysore and was offered the position of senior pontiff at Parakala Mutt, Mysore on three occasions. He declined the offer on all three occasions. For about two years, Krishnamacharya was employed as a supervisor in a coffee estate in Hassan district. In his spare time, Krishnamacharya gave lectures on Philosophy. Once, a lawyer invited Krishnamacharya to deliver a lecture on Darshanas in Mysore. Krishnamacharya’s discourse was so profound that word of his erudition reached the palace. HH Nalwadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar at once insisted that this scholar be persuaded to teach Sanskrit & Yoga at the Sanskrit Patashala, Mysore. A short diminutive man, Krishnamacharya was fluent in Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and Marathi.

Krishnamacharya married Namagiriamma in 1925. Between 1931 and 1952, the couple had three boys and three girls. Pundarikavalli, his first daughter was born in 1931. Alamchi (1933), Srinivasan (1936), Desikachar (1938) and Bhasyam (1941) were the names of his other children.

The couple shared a passionate love for gardening and Yoga. Their marriage lasted several decades. He was deeply devoted to her and she remained a resolute pillar of strength and love. Her passing in 1985 at 71 years of age, left a void in Krishnamacharya’s life. It was probably the only occasion where he was remembered to have shed tears in all his years!

Krishnamacharya had an unwavering faith in the divine. Once, an Insurance salesman haggled him for a long time about various Insurance policies and the benefits of each. After enduring this for nearly thirty minutes, an impatient Krishnamacharya thundered, that God was his only Insurance. The agent gathered his papers and left without a word!

In his later years, Tirumalai Krishnamacharya and his family were living in a small two floored house in Chennai. Krishnamacharya and his wife had the ground floor accommodation and his son’s family lived in the first floor. There were torrential rains that year with waterlogging in the streets. Water was expected to rush into the ground floor house by late that night. The family members pleaded with Krishnamacharya to move to the first floor. He flatly refused. As the rain grew in intensity, the streets were now inundated. Water began flowing into the house compound. Rest of the family members were mortified and expected the worst. At midnight, they heard a loud incantation of Narayana! Narayana! Narayana! coming continuously from the ground floor. Just when water was about to pour into the ground floor house, there was a loud noise in the adjoining school compound. The school compound wall had given away. This had created an alternate path for the water and it began to recede from Krishnamacharya’s compound. Krishnamacharya was miraculously saved from almost certain deluge. He, for his part continued with his chanting as before.

Yogi and the Maharaja
The then Maharaja of Mysore – HH Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar was plagued by uncontrolled diabetes. The best of European doctors couldn’t help him. Someone suggested Tirumalai Krishnamacharya’s name to the Maharaja and the Maharaja summoned him to the palace. On their first meeting, Krishnamacharya recited few Sanskrit verses and demonstrated few quick yogasanas which impressed the Maharaja greatly and he in turn allotted a patch of land next to the present day Jaganmohan Palace (Mysore) to start a Yoga School. Furthermore, a statutory sum of money was set aside on a monthly basis to be offered to Krishnamacharya as remuneration. A house was given to Krishnamacharya, on rent. When it was informed that the earlier tenant had committed suicide and hence no one else was willing to live in the house, he brushed it aside and performed a few rituals and happily stayed there for several years.

A year after Krishnamacharya took charge, the Maharaja’s health improved considerably. The Maharaja by his own admission had more energy and vigour to go out daily on horseback and meet people and attend to palace activities. The Maharaja now decided to increase the funding for the Yogashala and mandated yoga classes for all children in the state schools.

Similarly, Krishnamacharya had taught Yoga to other Royal family members & dignitaries in India as well – His Excellency Roger Lumley (Governor of Bombay – 1940), Maharaja of Patiala, Maharaja of Dholpur, Maharaja of Jaipur, Maharaja of Baroda (1941) and even the Nizam of Hyderabad! The Maharaja of Jaipur offered Krishnamacharya the position of the Principal of Yoga Vidyashala (at Jaipur), which he politely declined.

Tirumalai Krishnamacharya’s writings
HH Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar encouraged Krishnamacharya to write books on Yoga, for future generations. Tirumalai Krishnamacharya’s first book titled “Yoga Makaranda” was published by the palace in 1934 and subsequently saw numerous translations into many Indian languages. This was followed by “Vinyasa Krama”. He also authored a Kannada book titled “Yogasangalu”, which was later revised in 1970. Many of his poems penned on Yoga were compiled as “Yoganjalisaram” and “Dhyanamalika”. “Yogavalli” authored in his ninth decade of life was done through dictations given to Desikachar. Krishnamacharya had an impeccable memory and could recollect with clarity, well into his nineties. He authored “Chit Achit Tatva Mimamsa” based on Vedanta sutra in his 94th year.


Tirumalai Krishnamacharya’s disciples
B. K. S. Iyengar
Among his earliest disciples was his own brother in law – B. K. S. Iyengar, who began taking Yoga classes from Krishnamacharya in his early years. B. K. S. Iyengar would rise to international fame in the world of Yoga and would be remembered for his own eclectic brand of ‘Iyengar Yoga’. His methodology was welcomed by many famous personalities in the west. Iyengar is said to have healed the tendinitis which was crippling the famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin in his later years, solely through Yoga. Following this, Iyengar was invited to Europe and his travels there culminated in the opening of nearly 200 Yoga schools! Krishnamacharya was invited to Pune at the behest of the Maharaja in 1938. V. B. Gokhale, civil surgeon of Pune was greatly impressed with Krishnamacharya’s Yoga demonstration and requested him to stay in Pune and open a Yoga school. Krishnamacharya, in turn requested B. K. S. Iyengar to stay put in Pune and run the Yoga school – thus was born “Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute”, later popularly known as “BKS Iyengar School of Yoga”.

Pattabhi Jois
Pattabhi Jois came to Tirumalai Krishnamacharya at the age of 12 years and spent the next 25 years learning advanced Yoga from the master. Jois later evolved his unique brand of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and started “The Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute” at Mysore in 1948. Pattabhi Jois continued practicing and teaching Yoga till his 93rd year, when he passed away in 2009.

Indra Devi
An American woman married to a foreign diplomat came to Krishnamacharya and persuaded him to teach her Yoga. She herself was an accomplished dancer and a student of Isadora Duncan. Sensing great reluctance in Krishnamacharya, she then approached the Maharaja to put in a word to the Yoga Guru to accept her. Krishnamacharya could not turn down the Maharaja and eventually accepted her as his student, on the condition that she had to follow his dietary restrictions and perform Yoga only before sunrise and after sunset, as long as she remained under his tutelage. She readily obeyed him on these conditions. She would, in time, become one of his finest students and a household name in Yoga in the West. She was Indra Devi. Her legacy in the west needs little emphasis here and at the time of her passing in 2002, she had left behind more than 100 schools of Yoga across USA and Argentina.

Other prominent female disciples included Sri Subha and Yvonne Millerand from France.

Jiddu Krishnamurti
Jiddu Krishnamurti who was an accomplished yoga practioner himself, approached Krishnamacharya to learn higher forms of Yoga. Strangely enough, Krishnamacharya summoned his son Desikachar and instructed him to teach Jiddu. T. K. V. Desikachar had to help Jiddu unlearn many of his asanas and then instruct him in a different manner. Though older in age, Jiddu was never overbearing and was more than happy to submit himself as an abiding disciple before Desikachar. Later, Jiddu took Desikachar to Europe (on his many trips) and the massive following of European students only grew in number by the day. Jiddu Krishnamurti’s association with T. K. V. Desikachar lasted for several decades, till Jiddu’s demise in 1986.

Krishnamacharya was averse to accepting gifts. Even when expensive gifts came from the palace, he promptly sent them back with gratitude. He eventually sent a word, that the only thing that he would henceforth accept would be fruits & flowers, and nothing more! Under the affectionate patronage of HH Nalwadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar, the Yoga school grew from strength to strength. Great Yoga exponents like Pattabhi Jois & B. K. S. Iyengar emerged from this school. Krishnamacharya’s son T. K. V. Desikachar was also among his illustrious disciples and later became famous both in the west and in India for his Vinyasakramas.

These were some of the texts, Krishnamacharya taught Desikachar during the course of the training:
1. Yoga Sutra
2. Bhagavad Gita
3. Hatha Yoga Pradipika
4. Yoga Yagnavalkya
5. Yoga Rahasya
6. Gheranda Samhita
7. Siva Samhita
8. Caraka Samhita
9. Sankhya Karika
10. Rahasya Traya Sara
11. Ramayana
12. Mahabharata
13. Paniniya Siksha
14. Upanishads
15. Several texts of Ayurveda
16. Several texts of Astrology
17. Several techniques of meditation

After HH Nalwadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar’s demise, the patronage for the Yoga school diminished. The first Chief Minister of the newly constituted state of Karnataka was even less enthusiastic than his nominal predecessors and went so far as to order its closure. The students of the Yoga school sat in protest before his house. The Chief Minister, annoyed by these protests rushed from his house towards the protestors to address them. In this commotion, he tripped and suffered significant wounds over his hip and surrounding areas. He was in excruciating pain. In what can at best be described as ironical, the Chief Minister turned to Krishnamacharya for help! Krishnamacharya offered his services for several weeks with no hesitation. The Chief Minister was nursed back to health. Krishnamacharya was offered suitable compensation for his trouble. When Krishnamacharya refused and reiterated that he and his students would be more grateful for continued state patronage of the Yoga school, the Chief Minister threw his hands up in the air and said, alas his hands were tied on that front and that there was little he could do to help. He even suggested that closure of the Yoga school may be economically prudent in the long run. In a rare display of anger, Krishnamacharya stormed out of the meeting. The lack of economic support meant the death knell for the Yoga school in Mysore. As providence would have it, Nageswara Rao (owner of Amrutanjan company) offered not only financial backing but also the much needed land, for this Yoga school in Madras. Krishnamacharya gladly accepted this and moved out of Mysore in 1950.

In Madras (present day Chennai), Krishnamacharya was invited to be faculty at The Vivekananda college, by its principal Sundaram Iyer. The college was funded by the Ramakrishna Mission and Krishnamacharya was made a Yoga Lecturer. During these years, Krishnamacharya nursed the famous legal luminary – T. R. Vekatarama Sastry back to health, as he had just suffered a paralytic stroke. Noted jurist Alladi Krishnaswami Iyer (who was on the drafting committee of the Indian Constitution) had just then suffered a debilitating stroke and was greatly aided by Krishnamacharya’s rehabilitative techniques. Tirumalai Krishnamacharya decided to settle in Madras for good. Mysore’s loss was Madras’s gain.

Some Memorable Cases
Once a large American car hastily made its way into his compound and out sprang a rather large, middle aged white woman, who rushed towards Krishnamacharya and hugged him. Onlookers were taken aback and only later realised that she had indeed suffered from years of disabling insomnia, which Krishnamacharya through painstaking yogic teaching had helped her conquer!

Similarly, Krishnamacharya was once approached by a desperate woman, who years into her marriage had been unable to beget children. This had taken a toll on her marriage. Krishnamacharya laid out an elaborate plan involving dietary restrictions, Yogasanas, lifestyle modifications and certain personally prepared herbal concoctions to be taken at prescribed hours of the day! After a year, she miraculously conceived and a few months after delivering the child, came to him to show the child and thank him profusely.

A young girl who had been through a harrowing cancer and its ensuing treatments (chemotherapy) was now completely bald. She had even lost her eyebrows. Her cancer had been conquered, but her general health had taken a severe beating. Due to her appearance, she now withdrew from all her friends and even from her own family. Her social isolation led to depression and soon, her menstrual cycles were so haphazard, that she would bleed profusely for days on end. Her parents had visited every doctor in town, to no avail. Finally, with great reluctance they approached Tirumalai Krishnamacharya. At first Krishnamacharya did not dwell on Yoga with the young girl. He just spoke to her on a whole range of issues for several days. Soon, they became best of friends, chatting incessantly for hours. The fact that they were separated by decades hardly mattered. She now began to sit and observe Krishnamacharya perform and teach yogasanas over several hours. A month or two later, Krishnamacharya in passing, asked if she would care to join? At first reluctant, she joined in and began learning the basic asanas, coupled with various breathing techniques. She even volunteered to learn some of the Narayana mantras from Krishnamacharya. Six months into this, her periods began to normalise and she wasn’t bleeding as much. She slowly regained her strength. Remarkably, her hair began to grow again. A year later, she was unrecognisable. Her parents could scarcely retain her at home, as her only focus each and every day, was to meet Krishnamacharya and perform asanas for hours at end. Her circle of friends began to increase and she was more social than ever. The parents could not contain their joy and thanked Krishnamacharya for this miracle. This girl remained associated with Krishnamacharya well into her middle life.

Once Krishnamacharya’s son brought home an American friend and introduced him to his father. The American had a few questions about his horoscope and something was not adding up. Krishnamacharya told him that even though as per his recorded date of birth he was a Leo, according to Krishnamacharya’s calculations he was a Pisces! The American was incensed and went to the extent of calling home to confirm the same with his mother. His mother, to his shock confirmed that he was indeed a Pisces and had instead been recorded a Leo (on the certificate) for academic convenience!

His Approach
His teachings essentially were three tier in their approach – Asanas & Pranayama (physical postures and breathing exercises), studies of Vedas & Upanishads backed by a rigorous regimen of diet, Ayurveda and herbal remedies. He assiduously avoided treating patients in absentia. He was a keen proponent of judging the person’s overall health by studying the pulse. Well versed in Astrology, Krishnamacharya was adept at reading horoscopes.

Broadly speaking, Krishnamacharya’s outlook on Yoga is best emphasised in the following manner:
1. Yama – attitudes toward our environment
2. Niyama – attitude towards ourselves
3. Asana – practice of body exercises
4. Pranayama – practice of breathing exercises
5. Pratyahara – restraint of senses
6. Dharana – ability to direct our minds
7. Dhyana – ability to develop interactions with that which we seek to understand
8. Samadhi – complete integration with that which we wish to merge (pindanda and brahmanda)

Though controversial at times, Krishnamacharya was among the early proponents of teaching Veda to women as well. Earliest among these to learn both Yoga & Veda from him was Mala Srivatsan.

On 23 January 1936, Dr. Brosse and Prof. Wenger (France) observed and recorded with the latest available equipment, Krishnamacharya bringing his heart to a near standstill for full two minutes! An Indian physician, Dr Jehangir (from Hyderabad) also recorded the same at a later date.

Krishnamacharya would wake up at 2 AM every morning, prepare his own tea and then practice for two to three hours before sitting down for his customary puja at 5 AM. He would then prepare breakfast by 6:30 AM and his students would arrive around 8:00 AM. He was insistent on doing his own grocery shopping and would travel by the same autorickshaw, every time to the market! From cooking to cleaning, he wished to remain independent. He always had in his pockets, chocolates to distribute to the visiting children. In his later years, he spent a great deal of time with his grandchildren and developed a keen interest in the game of Cricket! During household functions and ritual ceremonies, Krishnamacharya would recite along many of the vedic mantras with far greater gusto & accuracy than the visiting younger priests! He would receive visitors from far flung places and almost always managed to strike a chord by speaking in their native tongues. When a foreign student asked to be taught mantras on Narayana, Krishnamacharya smiled at her and said, “Narayana is from my culture, you must find your Narayana from yours; Only then will it work!” Krishnamacharya continued practicing Yoga well into his 90s.

At 97 years of age, Krishnamacharya broke his hip. Much to his chagrin, a procession of specialist doctors visited him. The Orthopaedic surgeon who visited, was particularly haughty and rather disparagingly said that one need not bother about such a stubborn old man who was well into his late nineties. This particularly hurt Krishnamacharya. Though bedridden, he now devised several modifications to his Yoga routine and continued performing these asanas in his bed! Krishnamacharya made a miraculous recovery and was now able to move around, stand up and even walk short distances. The first thing he did on his recovery was to call this Orthopaedic surgeon over the phone. The surgeon, haughty as ever, said he had been waiting for this call of desperation. Krishnamacharya very patiently invited him home. When the surgeon visited a few days later, he was surprised to see Krishnamacharya not only ambulating, but also performing complex asanas all by himself! Humbled, he finally relented and said that someone must videograph this yogi, lest his colleagues think he was lying.

Tirumalai Krishnamacharya completed his 100th year on November 18, 1988. A grand function was organised by his family and many distinguished guests were invited. At this juncture, months before his centenary, Krishnamacharya’s doctor expressed reservations about Krishnamacharya being able to withstand the stress of the function and wondered whether if he would indeed make it to his 100th birthday in the first place! Krishnamacharya got wind of this and grew incensed at the doctor. He at once asserted that he was well aware of his ‘Prana’ and that he would not only reach 100, but would cross it as well! The doctor kept quiet and preparations for the centenary celebration continued unabated. 108 vedic scholars were invited and they chanted the Vedas and read extracts from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Srimad Bhagavata. A Homa was performed for his longevity. The Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Matha sent a gold pendant to Krishnamacharya. Letters were received from the offices of the Prime Minister and President of India!

After much fanfare, it was decided that he should address the audience. Krishnamacharya kept quiet for a very long time. Even the audience went quiet. Then he took a long breath and uttered “Om” continuously for the longest possible time. It was a surreal, almost metaphysical experience for those around him. After that he presented his students with his wooden sandals (padukas) and offered pranams to all. He then sat down and remained quiet for rest of the evening!

In January 1989, months away from his final journey, he summoned Desikachar and presented him with his greatest possession and something he characteristically described as the single greatest inheritance he could possibly bequeath down to successive generations – his father’s copy of ‘Ramayana’ which he had treasured for nearly a century and which he now placed in his son’s hands to be treasured and cherished for centuries to come!

After this, Krishnamacharya had one last request from his son – that was to stay put in Madras (Chennai) and never go back to Mysore. Desikachar consented and later sold their property in Mysore.

Few months later, Krishnamacharya slipped into a deep coma. When he lost consciousness, he was reading a commentary on a Buddhist text. The doctors felt that it was best that he should be at home, as little could be done for him at the hospital. He passed away at 4:00 PM on 28th February, 1989. When his mortal remains were shifted to the bier, they found under his pillow currency notes amounting to about 5,000.00 rupees, with a note explaining that this was kept aside for his own funeral!

Krishnamacharya’s Legacy
“The Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram” was formally inaugurated in 1976. Till date, scores of people afflicted with various mental and physical ailments are brought to the Yoga Mandiram and they have found much needed succour.

Tirumalai Krishnamacharya served on the Advisory Boards of various academic institutes such as – Ayurvedic Research Institute, Ayurveda College (Chennai), Mysore Medical College (Mysore) and Board of Studies in Indian Medicine (Chennai).

Fernando Pages Ruiz in his “The Legacy of Krishnamacharya” [Yoga Journal, May/ June 2001] probably summed up Krishnamacharya’s legacy best: “You may never have heard of him, but Tirumalai Krishnamacharya influenced or perhaps even invented your Yoga. Whether you practice the dynamic series of Pattabhi Jois, the refined alignments of B. K. S. Iyengar, the classical postures of Indra Devi or the customised Vinyasa of Desikachar, your practice stems from one source – a five foot, two inch Brahmin born more than one hundred years ago in a small south Indian village.”

At a time when the world is embracing Yoga with open arms, it is worthwhile remembering this gentle giant who quietly laid the foundations for future Yoga gurus, who in turn took his teachings to the four corners of the world. Our humble pranams to this venerable sage.







References:

1. “The Yoga of the Yogi” (The Legacy of Krishnamacharya) by Kaustubh Desikachar (Pan Macmillan India 2005)
2. “Yogacharya Krishnamacharya – The Purnacarya”. Edited by Mala Srivatsan (1997)
3. “Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings” by A. G. Mohan with Dr. Ganesh Mohan (2015)
4. “Health, Healing and Beyond” (Yoga and the living tradition of T. Krishnamacharya) – T. K. V. Desikachar with R. H. Cravens