SIR T.K.V.

Desikachar
Immersed in the yoga tradition by his father
Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, T.K.V.
Desikachar went on to develop Viniyoga, an
approach that tailors the practice to each
students unique condition.
T.K.V. Desikachar, born in 1938, son of the
great yoga master Sri Tirumalai
Krishnamacharya, grew up immersed in the
yoga tradition. Although as a child he apparently found hatha yoga so
boring he once climbed a coconut tree to avoid practicing, he
enthusiastically began formal training with his father in his 20s, shortly
after completing his bachelors degree in engineering. In 1976 he
founded the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, a yoga center in Madras,
India. Drawing on his fathers teachings, Desikachar went on to develop
Viniyoga, a highly individualized approach to yoga that tailors the
practice to each students specific physical condition, emotional state,
age, cultural background, and interests. In addition to offering teacher
training and individual instruction in asana, Pranayama, meditation, yoga
philosophy, and Vedic chanting, Yoga Mandiram has pioneered research
into the impact of yoga on people suffering from schizophrenia, diabetes,
asthma, and depression. Yoga is basically a program for the spine at
every levelphysical, respiratory, mental, and spiritual, says
Desikachar.

THE

YOGI

Tirumalai
Krishnamacharya

Krishnamacharya at 100
years (1988)
Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (November 18, 1888 February 28, 1989)
[1][2] was an Indian yoga teacher, ayurvedic healer and scholar. Often
referred to as "The Father of Modern Yoga," [3][4][5] Krishnamacharya is
widely regarded as one of the most influential yoga teachers of the 20th
century and is credited with the revival of hatha yoga.[6]
Krishnamacharya held degrees in all the six Vedic daranas, or Indian
philosophies. While under the patronage of the King of Mysore, Krishna
Raja Wadiyar IV, Krishnamacharya traveled around India giving lectures
and demonstrations to promote yoga, including such feats as stopping
his heartbeat.[7] He is widely considered as the architect of vinysa,
[6] in the sense of combining breathing with movement. Underlying all of
Krishnamacharyas teachings was the principle Teach what is
appropriate for an individual.[8] While he is revered in other parts of the
world as a yogi, in India Krishnamacharya is mainly known as a healer
who drew from both ayurvedic and yogic traditions to restore health and
well-being to those he treated.[6] He authored four books on yogaYoga
Makaranda (1934), Yogaasanagalu (c. 1941),[9] Yoga Rahasya,
and Yogavalli (Chapter 1 1988)as well as several essays and poetic
compositions.[10]
Some of Krishnamacharya's students include many of yogas most
renowned teachers: B. K. S. Iyengar ( born 1927) studied with

Krishnamacharya in Mysore Jagan Mohan Palace from 1943 to 1948.

[11] T. K. V. Desikachar (born 1938), Indra Devi (18992002), B. K. S.
Iyengar (19182014), K. Pattabhi Jois (19152009), A. G. Mohan (born
1945), and Srivasta Ramaswami, Avathuta H. H. Guru Dileepji
Maharaj (born 1969).