Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois

Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois, lovingly called Guruji by his students, born in 1915 in the small town of Kowshika, India.

At the age of 12 he meets his guru Sri T. Krishnamacharya in a yoga demonstration at his school. Sri T. Krishnamacharya’s teacher was Rama Mohan Brahmachari and he had taught Krishnamacharya yoga in a cave in Tibet.

Sri T. Krishnamacharya

He lived a hard life while attending classes at the university begging for food and biking long distance.
 
Later on he was offer a scholarship by the Maharaja of Mysore with food and salary teaching yoga at the university where he taught until his retirement 36 years later.

He married Savitramma and had 3 children Manju, Ramesh, and Saraswati. Saraswati’s son Sharath, who born in 1971, carries on the teachings, and is with his grandfather the co-director of their school at Mysore.

Guruji & Sharath

In 1964 they had their first western student, but it won’t be until 1972 after more westerners meet Manju at Swami Gitananda's ashram in Pondicherri that the teachings of Asthanga Yoga really stared to spread in the West. Then Guruji travel to USA and after that the teachings and practice of Asthanga Yoga have been spread all around the globe. At this moment Guruji has been teaching without a break since the day he started the first time back in 1927, around 80 years now. He has maintained the practice as pure as it was taught to him by his teacher Sri T. Krishnamacharya.

 

His favorite phrase is: “Don’t think, just practice”
For more information you can link into Guruji’s official web site: http://wwSw.ayri.org/