Whilst living in Madras from 1979-1981 I was at an event in Chennai in June 1980 where BKS Iyengar was invited to give a Yoga lecture and Āsana demonstration in a tribute to his Guru T Krishnamacharya.

Krishnamacharya consented to attend as the guest of honour and I was able to take a number of personal photos during this event, including Mr Iyengar demonstrating Āsana.

This particular picture shows T Krishnamacharya and BKS Iyengar sitting together during the salutary addresses.

A collation of articles by Srivatsa Ramaswami around the teachings of
T Krishnamacharya published in the ‘Indian Review’ circa 1979-1981.

View or Download this Series of Articles as a Single PDF Collation

List of Articles and Indications of Content:

Downloadable film ‘100 Years of Beatitude’ digitalised from a video of a 1989 documentary honouring  Śrī T Krishnamacharya at the time of his centennial celebrations.

The research and commentary for the film was by Sarah Dars, who also contributed several articles to the special December 1989 edition of the Viniyoga Journal on Krishnamacharya’s life.

The introduction to one of her articles, entitled ‘At the Foot of the Mountain’ read:

“Yogin, Āyurveda physician, teacher of the Mahārājah , master of Mīmāmsā, Nyāya, Sāṃkhya,…..
It is impossible to come to the end of the long list of areas in which Krishnamacharya excelled, as he was also an astrologer, multi lingual , Saṃskṛta scholar, poet, musician………
A totally exceptional person, wreathed in legend, to whom one listens as if seated at the foot of the mountain…”

Amongst my various meetings with Krishnamacharya I remember attending public lectures and the phrase ‘to whom one listens as if seated at the foot of the mountain’ captures the spirit of his understanding of Yoga.

In 2000 TKV Desikachar presented teachings around the evolution of T Krishnamacharya’s Yoga teaching.
The above summary is available as a Downloadable PDF.

Released on the occasion of the Pāduka Pratiṣṭhā of Sri T Krishnamacharya on 15th March 1991 by the KYM.

Download the text as a PDF

This picture shows BKS Iyengar demonstrating Āsana at an event in Chennai in June 1980 where he was invited to give a Yoga lecture and Āsana demonstration in a tribute to his Guru T Krishnamacharya. I remember he introduced his presentation with the words “I am an artist and I am going to show you my art”.

In 1970, TKV Desikachar asked his father and Guru, Śrī T Krishnamacharya ten fundamental questions about Yoga. The following is an extract of one of the questions in the interview, which took place in the Kanada language.

“5A. Why are there so many different methods to hand down the teachings of a master? What are the reasons for this?
This situation comes from the absence of loyalty to only one master. The traditional method of teaching and of handing down the teaching is the Guru Paramparā. For a disciple, it consists of receiving the instructions of a master day after day, until there is enough knowledge. At the end of an assiduous study with the Teacher, the student progressively becomes a teacher himself and he starts teaching other disciples. This continuity, from teacher to student, in the same tradition, constitutes the Guru Paramparā. The high number of present methods is due to interruptions in the traditional system of handing down the teaching. It can also be due to the weakness of certain teachers.

5B. What are the consequences of these different methods?
The lowering of the average level and the weakening of the knowledge of the students of Yoga.

5C. What solutions can be proposed to mitigate this situation?
Nowadays, there is no solution to this problem.”

Photograph of T Krishnamacharya taken by Paul Brunton during his travels in India
whilst staying as a guest of the Maharajah in Mysore, South India.

Rāmānuja, was a disciple of Śrī Yāmunācarya. Śrī Yāmuna, composer of texts such as the Gītārtha Saṃgraha, Siddhi Traya and Stotra Ratna, was the grandson of the 9th century sage Śrī Nāthamuni and a forebear of T Krishnamacharya.

Krishnamacharya’s personal devotional philosophy and practices were grounded in the teachings that arose from these great sages and evolved into what became known as Viśiṣṭādvaita or qualified non-dualism (One of the three primary schools of Vedānta).

“Rāmānuja agrees with the Advaitin that the scripture
teaches the non-twoness (Advaita) of reality.
But, he denies the Advaitan’s conclusion
that this oneness is attributeless,
pure being or consciousness and that plurality
with regard to soul and material world is falsely
imposed on this one Being due to ignorance.”
Rāmānuja on the Yoga – Dr. Robert C Lester 1976.

Tirumalai Krishnamacharya was 50 when the film was made in 1938. He is now seen as one of the the most influential teachers in establishing what Yoga is identified as in today’s society. His students included Pattabhi Jois, BKS Iyengar, Indra Devi, and his son TKV Desikachar.