Sri K. Pattabhi Jois is the founder of Ashtanga
Yoga Research Institute. Read the biography cum life history of K.
Pattabhi Jois.
Sri K. Pattabhi Jois
About Sri K. Pattabhi Jois
Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, or Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois, counts amongst the
world-renowned yoga teachers of India. A student of Sri Tirumalai
Krishnamacharya, he is currently teaching at the Ashtanga Yoga Research
Institute of Mysore, founded by him. His yoga shala attracts thousands
of foreign students every year. Let us move on further to explore the
complete biography of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.
His Life History
Sri K. Pattabhi Jois was born as Krishna on 26th July 1915 in the
village of Kowshika, situated near Hassan city of Karnataka. It was at
the age of twelve years that Krishna realized his aim in life. In his
twelfth year i.e., 1927, he attended a lecture and demonstration given
by S. T. Krishnamacharya in the Hassan city. Pattabhi Jois got so
impressed by the lecture that, on the very next day, he became
Krishnamacharya's student and continued his study for the next
twenty-five years.
In the year 1929, Jois ran away from his home and went to Mysore, in order
to study Sanskrit. By coincidence, Krishnamacharya also left Hassan to
teach somewhere else. Somehow, he also made his way to Mysore and met
Jois once again after a gap of two years. During this time,
Krishnamacharya had cured Maharaja of Mysore, Krishna Rajendra Wodeyar,
of a very seriously illness. As an expression of his gratitude, the
Maharaja had established a Yoga shala for him on the palace grounds.
Sri K. Pattabhi Jois remained with his Guru until 1941, when he left
for Madras. However, Jois continued staying in Mysore afterwards and
married a young woman named Savitramma (popularly known as Amma), with
whom he fell in love. The marriage took place in June 1937 and they were
later blessed with three children Saraswati, Manju and Ramesh. In 1948,
Sri K. Pattabhi Jois managed to buy a home in a section of town, called
Lakshmipuram, with the help of his students.
After buying the house, he established the 'Ashtanga Yoga Research
Institute' there. Jois taught yoga at the Sanskrit College for a number
of years and became a professor in 1956. In 1958, he started writing
Yoga Mala, which was published in India in 1962. The first English
version of the book came out in 1999. Even today, Jois teaches yoga,
with his daughter Saraswati and his grandson Sharath, at the Ashtanga
Yoga Research Institute, which is now located in the neighborhood of
Gokulum.
