Most mysteriously, why had Mr Jois himself apparently stopped practising his sort of yoga decades ago?

ECONOMIST: Pattabhi Jois, a yoga teacher, died on May 18th, aged 93

Mr Jois first saw these yoga postures performed in one connected sequence in the 1920s, when he was 12.

ECONOMIST: Pattabhi Jois, a yoga teacher, died on May 18th, aged 93

After running away from his village with two rupees in his pocket, Mr Jois eventually managed to study at Mysore and then began to pass on what he had learnt.

ECONOMIST: Pattabhi Jois | The

Among his followers, Mr Jois inspired a cultish devotion.

ECONOMIST: Pattabhi Jois, a yoga teacher, died on May 18th, aged 93