The History of Ashtanga

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois – who was known affectionately by his many students simply as Guruji – spent his entire life dedicated to the study, practice, and transmission of Ashtanga Yoga.

K. Pattabhi Jois was born in a small village outside of Mysore, India on the full moon of July 1915, and began studying the Vedas and Hindu rituals at the age of five. When he was twelve, he attended a yoga demonstration by Sri T. Krishnamacharya, one of the most distinguished practitioners of yoga in the 20th century, and for the next two years received yoga instruction from Krishnamacharya every morning before school.

At fourteen, Guruji left home to study at the Sanskrit University of Mysore where, in 1932, he again met Krishnamacharya and recommenced his study of yoga. His study continued for the next twenty-five years. In 1933 Guruji married Savitramma, who would lovingly be known by the students as Amma. Guruji taught at the Sanskrit University from 1937 until 1973 and during this time was blessed with three children – Saraswathi, Manju, and Ramesh.

Guruji established the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in 1948 at his home in Lakshmipuram, Mysore. He began teaching local students and many people with diabetes and blood pressure issues who had been sent to him by local physicians. With the arrival of Belgian, Andrew van Lysbeth, in 1964 and his subsequent book, Pranayama, Guruji’s renown as a teacher spread and the Ashtanga Yoga community began its steady growth. In 1975 Guruji took his first trip to the US, teaching Ashtanga Yoga in Encinitas, California. In 2002 Guruji moved his Institute to Gokulam to accommodate the increasing number of students.

Over the years Guruji passed on his teachings to many students, authorizing and certifying select students to teach the method as he had taught them. He gradually retired from teaching classes, leaving the Institute in the hands of his grandson, Sharath, and daughter, Saraswathi. On May 18th, 2009 Guruji passed on at the age of 93, leaving behind a legacy of teaching and the inspired Ashtanga method. The institute he founded was renamed the Shri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute. Guruji lives on through his teachings at the Institute in Mysore, and every time we practice as he has taught us.

The Eight Limbs of Yoga

Information Courtesy of: JoisYoga.com

For a complete biography of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, please see the KPJAYI website