Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, the beloved Guruji of Ashtanga Yoga, died this morning at the age of 93 in Mysore, India. Jois’ health had been unstable for the past few years, and he was in and out of the hospital more than once. However, the exact causes of death have not yet been made public. Along with B.K.S. Iyengar and T.K.V. Desikachar, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois can be credited with carrying along the lineage of T. Krishnamacharya, who is largely regarded as the founder of modern yoga practice. Jois was one of the most prominent figures in yoga, having taught thousands of students over decades as the founder of the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India (known today as the Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute). Many of his students are now among the most well-respected teachers in the West today.
Sharath Rangaswamy, Jois’ grandson, who has studied and worked closely with Jois for many years, is expected to take on the role as the head of the institute his grandfather founded.
Jois was born July 26, 1915, in the village of Kowshika, South India. He met and began his studies with T. Krishnamacharya in 1927. He founded the AYRI in 1948 and taught yoga there for many years before Westerners discovered him in the 1960s. In 1975, Jois made his first visit to the U.S., after which his practice and influence spread throughout the U.S., Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and Asia.
Plans for memorial services for Sri K. Pattabhi Jois have not yet been announced.
[Editor's note: We are personally extremely thankful for Guruji's many years of faithfully passing along the teachings of his guru, and we are deeply saddened by the news of his passing. For several of us at Drishti, Ashtanga has been our primary practice for many years. Our yoga practices would not have been as meaningful or powerful to us today without the existence of beloved Guruji. We would like to express our deepest condolences to Guruji's family in Mysore and to the Ashtanga community at-large for this historic loss.]
Thank you for posting. I am sending prayers out to his spirit….
Many prayers out to his family in India and to the thousands that revere dear Guruji. He has inspired and offered wisdom to many. Feeling blessed I saw him over the years.
Om Shanti, may his Spirit rest well.
I am so grateful that I got to meet him once, during his 2000 world tour. I don’t know where I’d be without ashtanga yoga. Thinking only good thoughts for him and his family.
he lived a great life.
He showed many people how through a simple practice of yoga one good transform ones life.
personally i remember his laugh and smile xxx
We just remembered how endearing it is that he used to call his students “bad man!” and “bad lady!” That trait is sooo uniquely Guruji.
“Do your practice and all is coming.” Words to live by. I am so grateful for Guruji. Like so many others, Ashtanga utterly changed my life. Guruji now belongs to the world, and his wisdom lives on in so many dedicated teachers and practitioners.
though i never had the chance to meet him, he had a great impact on my life, and was both directly and indirectly a spiritual teacher to all who have known him closely or from afar…
…will forever be a shining and guiding light…
We will all dearly miss Guruji.
When I practice or when I teach I hear him counting, I hear him say “BREATHE!” I feel his determination to make sure people do yoga correctly and I feel his love, ALWAYS.