T. K. V. Desikachar

T.K.V. Desikachar is the son and primary student of Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, a prominent yogi credited with being a driving force behind the resurgence of Hatha yoga in recent decades.

TKV Desikachar started his career as a civil engineer. Inspired by his father's teachings on Yoga in Madras (now Chennai), he left his engineering career and became a student of his father in the sixties. In 1976, along with A.G. Mohan, another long-time student of Sri Krishnamacharya, he established Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM), to propagate the teachings of his father and teacher. The KYM is now a leading institute of Yoga and Yoga Studies based in Chennai, India. Together with his son Kausthub Desikachar, TKV Desikachar founded the Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation (KHYF) on January 1, 2006. KHYF is committed to spreading the holistic yoga teachings of Sri T Krishnamacharya.

Today, TKV Desikachar is known and respected the world over as an authority on Yoga. His style of teaching encompasses a broader spectrum than many more famous schools of yoga, which focus more heavily on asana practice than Krishnamacharya's more versatile and adaptive approach. This approach was briefly termed viniyoga but Desikachar abandoned the term, preferring a more anonymous and brand-free approach to his father's teachings.

Teaching regularly in India and overseas, TKV Desikachar has participated in many international conventions and conferences. His books include "Health, Healing and Beyond" and "The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice". In 2000 he authored a translation of the classical yoga text "Yogayajnavalkya Samhita". He has also co-authored with his son Kausthub, a book titled "Vedic Chant Companion". His latest work, "The Viniyoga of Yoga", co-authored with Kausthub and Frans Moors, deals with the application of asana and pranayama to various needs.

Family

His wife, Menaka Desikachar, teaches yoga and Vedic chanting at the KYM. Kausthub Desikachar and Mekhala Desikachar are his children. Kausthub is also the Chief Executive of the KYM, as well as a senior teacher and yoga therapy consultant.

Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram

The KYM is a registered Public Charitable Trust, recognized by the Department of Family Health and Welfare, Government of Tamilnadu. [http://www.tn.gov.in/department/hfw.htm]

Today the KYM is a multi-departmental institution with a faculty of over thirty dedicated teachers from varied backgrounds. Mrs. Menaka Desikachar, one of its founding members, is a senior yoga educator and therapy consultant. Her sons, daughter and daughter-in-law are also a part of KYM. The activities of KYM include Yoga Studies, Yoga Therapy, Research on Yoga and Publications. Vedavani, a separate unit of KYM, is solely dedicated to the teaching and transmitting of Vedic chanting and research into its many aspects. KYM's MITRA division carries out its philanthropy.

Yoga

Although he has distanced himself from the term, the style or school of yoga that he teaches has sometimes been called Viniyoga.

See also

*Krishnamacharya's yoga

Books authored

*cite book
last = Desikachar
first = TKV with Kausthub Desikachar and Frans Moors
authorlink = T. K. V. Desikachar
title = The Viniyoga of Yoga: Applying Yoga for Healthy Living
publisher = Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram
location = Chennai, India
year = 2001
id = ISBN 8187847115
*cite book
last = Desikachar
first = TKV with Martyn Neal
authorlink = T. K. V. Desikachar
title = What Are We Seeking?
publisher = Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram
location = Chennai, India
year = 2001
id = ISBN 8187847069
*cite book
last = Desikachar
first = TKV, translator
authorlink = T. K. V. Desikachar
title = Yogayajnavalkya: The Yoga Treatise of Yajnavalkya
publisher = Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram
location = Chennai, India
year = 2000
id = ISBN 8187847085
*cite book
last = Desikachar
first = TKV with Kausthub Desikachar
authorlink = T. K. V. Desikachar
title = Vedic Chant Companion
publisher = Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram
location = Chennai, India
year = 2000
id = ISBN 8187847026
*cite book
last = Desikachar
first = TKV with R. H. Cravens
authorlink = T. K. V. Desikachar
title = Health, Healing & Beyond: Yoga and the Living Tradition of Krishnamacharya
publisher = Aperture Foundation, Inc
location = New York, New York
year = 1998
id = ISBN 0893817317
*cite book
last = Desikachar
first = TKV
authorlink = T. K. V. Desikachar
title = The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice
publisher = Inner Traditions International
location = Rochester, Vermont
year = 1995
id = ISBN 089281764X
*cite book
last = Desikachar
first = TKV
authorlink = T. K. V. Desikachar
title = Reflections on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
publisher = Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram
location = Chennai, India
year = 1987
id = ISBN 8187847212
*cite book
last = Desikachar
first = TKV
authorlink = T. K. V. Desikachar
title = Religiousness in Yoga: Lectures on Theory and Practice
publisher = University Press of America, Inc
location = Lanham, Maryland
year = 1980
id = ISBN 0819109665

External links

* [http://www.tn.gov.in/department/hfw.htm Government of Tamilnadu Department of Family Health and Welfare]
* [http://www.kym.org/ Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram]
* [http://www.khyf.net/ Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation]
* [http://ascentmagazine.com/articles.aspx?articleID=207&page=read&subpage=past&issueID=31 The Desikachars] . An interview with TKV and son Kausthub at ascentmagazine.com.