Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya was a remarkable man. He was an acclaimed master of asana, pranayama and dhyanam techniques, a seeker of knowledge, a prolific writer and orator, one of the pioneers of adapting yoga techniques for therapy and an adept in Vedic chanting.

If there is one name that can be considered synonymous with contemporary yoga, it is T Krishnamacharya.

He was convinced that Yoga was India’s greatest gift to the world and is widely regarded as one of the most influential Yoga teachers of the modern era.

Krishnamacharya is often called ‘The Father of Modern Yoga’ for his wide influence on the development of postural yoga and his contribution to the revival of hatha yoga within India.

Former, dedicated, students of Krishnamacharya are among modern yoga’s most well-known and influential teachers who have significantly helped to propagate and popularise yoga outside of India:

Indra Devi (1899–2002); K. Pattabhi Jois (1915–2009); B. K. S. Iyengar (1918-2014); Krishnamacharya’s Sons T.K.V. Desikachar (1938-2016) and Sri T.K. Sribhanshyam (1940-2017); Srivatsa Ramaswami (born 1939); and A. G. Mohan (born 1945).

The Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram was established in 1976, by Krishnamacharya’s son and long-time student T.K.V. Desikachar to carry forth these invaluable teachings. KYM Website

T.K.V Desikachar oversaw KYM’s work in therapy, training and guiding the faculty of KYM.

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Born in Southern India in 1888, Sri T. Krishnamacharya belonged to an orthodox Brahmin family of philosophers and spiritual masters. He was the eldest of five children.

While he is revered in other parts of the world as a yogi, in India Krishnamacharya is mainly known as a healer (Yogacharya – one who lived and practised what he teaches) who drew from both ayurvedic and yogic traditions to restore health and well-being to those he treated.

Krishnamacharya held degrees in philosophy, logic, divinity, philology and music and obtained honorary PhDs in all six Vedic darśanas, or Indian philosophies.

He authored four books on yoga – Yoga Makaranda (1934), Yogaasangalu (c. 1941), Yoga Rahasya, and Yogavalli (Chapter 1 – 1988) – as well as several essays and poetic compositions.

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Krishnamacharya is widely considered the architect of vinyāsa, in the sense of combining breathing with movement; the style of yoga he created has come to be called Viniyoga or Vinyasa Krama Yoga.

Underlying all of Krishnamacharya’s teachings was the principle ‘Teach what is appropriate for an individual.’

Live long in perfect health of body and mind, enjoy bliss, by the practice of our ancient and simple, yoga system, handed down to us by the Rishis.

This well-regulated system requires no appliances and can be adapted to all, old and young, men and women. Nothing to excel it in efficiency for building a sound body, a sound mind and a spiritual life.

Sri T. Krishnamacharya (1888-1989)

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Krishnamacharya completed most of his studies in Varanasi (Benares) and Calcutta, the two strongholds of the philosophical tradition of India, where he quickly obtained the highest honours in all six Vedic darśanas or Indian philosophies.

He deepened his knowledge of Hindu Yoga in the Himalayas and Buddhist Yoga in Burma, which was part of India at this time. He then went to Kashmir to study Sufism. He worked for some time as a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Benares and the University of Calcutta before accepting the invitation of the King of Mysore to teach Indian Philosophy at Mysore Sanskrit College.

Like his ancestors before him, he was the King’s teacher and was appointed to the Royal Court as Philosopher.

While applying himself to this task, he was the guest of honour of several Royal Courts, throughout India, as well as of Spiritual Monasteries to participate in ‘contests’, according to a centuries-old Indian custom.

Not only did he emerge victorious, but he also managed to explain, simply and convincingly, the practical aspects of the philosophical and religious disciplines, to the public attending these debates

Krishnamacharya mastered about fifteen Indian languages. He was also an astrologer, musician, sportsman and fine cook.

Krishnamacharya used to say that pranayama is the most important of the eight limbs of yoga (as listed in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali), because the last limb – samadhi, the pinnacle of sustained mental focus and the goal of classical yoga – can be reached through pranayama itself.

A. G. Mohan, ‘Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings’

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In the 1920s, Sri T. Krishnamacharya began to teach Yoga to the Royal Family, as well as to the people of Mysore. Over the years, he gave increasing importance to teaching Yoga. His practice and teaching of Yoga have never separated from the Philosophy of Yoga.

By 1935, his first non-Indian students were Europeans. As more and more Europeans came to study under his direction, he learned English alone to be able to teach in that language. He remained in Mysore until 1954 and settled in Madras where he lived until his death in 1989.

Sri T. Krishnamacharya had six children, three boys and three girls. His wife, Srimathi Namagiriammal and his six children received his teaching. His eldest son Sri T.K. Srinivasan, though fully trained in Yoga teaching, preferred to specialize in Indian Philosophy; Nyaya and Mimamsa, two of the most important philosophical currents in the Indian tradition.

His two other sons, Sri T.K.V. Desikachar and Sri T.K. Sribhashyam left their professions to devote themselves entirely to teaching Yoga. The second daughter of Sri T. Krishnamacharya, Srimathi Alamelu, is one of the first women to whom he taught the Vedas.

Sri T. Krishnamacharya began to teach Yoga to the brother of his wife, Sri B.K.S. Iyengar (born in 1918), while he was still a young child. Sri B.K.S. Iyengar was living at his teacher’s house, according to ancestral tradition. At the age of fifteen, he made his Yoga teaching debut. Sri T.K. Sribhashyam received instruction from his father from an early age, and it was in 1956 that he began teaching Yoga in Madras while pursuing his university studies. Sri T.K.V. Desikachar benefited from the teaching of his father in the sixties, after his university studies. He continued to teach them until his death.

Sri T. Krishnamacharya always refused the fees Royal Courts offered him. He never benefited from his situation. He lived on his modest personal income by working as a foreman on a coffee plantation, carrying stones and sandbags for buildings, and practising Indian medicine (Ayurveda). He even gave an important legacy to his brothers and sisters to stay in accord with his philosophical principles.

He also refused the honorary situations proposed to him in the Royal Courts and Monasteries to remain free and truthful in his teaching. His wife Srimathi Namagiriammal followed his example and shared his simple life. As much for him as for his children, she represented a living example of this philosophy.

In his daily life, Sri T. Krishnamacharya practised the Hindu religion rigorously, but he was very respectful of all other religious ideas, traditional or contemporary.

His openness led him to meet spiritual leaders from other faiths. He even gave lessons to religious leaders, heads of state, masters of Yoga and Philosophers.