The influence of Krishnamacharya

The most important influence on the diffusion of yoga in the West in the twentieth century was Tirumulai Krishnamacharya (1888–1989) who was from south India.

During his lifetime, Krishnamacharya had many students, the best-known being B. K. S. Iyengar, Patabhi Jois, Krishnamacharya’s son T. K. V. Desikachar, and Indra Devi. Other influential students were A. G. Mohan and Srivasta Ramaswamy.

Probably, about eighty percent of the yoga practised in the West is connected directly or indirectly with the lineage of Krishnamacharya, the largest movement being Iyengar Yoga, followed by Ashtanga Yoga (taught by Patabhi Jois), and then Viniyoga (taught by Desikachar).

Besides being a yogi, Krishnamacharya was a scholar who held degrees in various branches of Indian philosophy from six Indian universities; he also wrote many books in several languages. He was also accomplished in temple and household rituals.

As a young boy, Krishnamacharya was first taught yoga by his father. He learned twenty-four yoga postures from the Shankaracharya of Sringeri, became a Sanskrit and philosophy teacher, and taught yoga to some of his students.

In 1919, he travelled to Tibet to study yoga with Ramamohan Brahmachari, who lived in a cave near Mount Kailash.

Krishnamacharya stayed for seven years with Ramamohan Brahmachari, who became his guru. Krishnamacharya studied yoga texts, asana and pranayama, and furthered his knowledge of the healing applications of yoga practices.

Until the end of his life, Krsihnamacharya continued teaching and studying philosophy and Ayurveda. He was renowned as a healer, possessing not only extensive knowledge of therapeutic yoga practices, but also of curative plants and nutrition. It is claimed that he was able to stop the pulse of his heart for two minutes.

In 1925 Krishnamacharya married his wife, Namagiriammal. In 1931, at the invitation of the Maharaja of Mysore, Krishna Rajendra Wodeyar, Krishnamacharya became the resident yoga teacher at the Mysore palace.

He organized postures into groups and sequences, linking practice to rhythmic breathing. Krishnamacharya was particularly influential in introducing ‘postural’ hatha yoga to the West, not as a practice that is necessarily a preliminary to meditation, but as an adjunct to it.

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