Malladihalli Raghavendra

Raghavendra Swami, was born on 27 July 1890,[1] in a small village Barkur, in Karnataka. He was their only child. His parents named him Kumaraswamy. Later, urged by the head priest of Mantralaya Mutt, his name was changed to Raghavendra.

He has said that he met Palani Swami,[2] a yogi. He has claimed to have learned hatha yoga, asanas and pranayama from him.[3] He was adopted by Puthali Bai and Narasimhaiah on the advice of Bhirthi Ramachandra Shastry after the death of his mother. Anantha Padmanabha, leaving his son in the care of the foster parents went on a pilgrimage to Himalayas.

He learnt Carnatic music, singing Bhajans and devotional songs. As a school boy he participated and acted in many plays, Yakshagana, and Thala Maddale.

He met Siddharudha Swami to do social works in Hubli, Karnataka; but left after few days for Tumkur.

Kumaraswamy started his association with K. Shivaram Karanth, a budding artist, who later, acquired the skills of drama, and its intricate styles, at the Amba Prasaditha Nataka Company, in Tumkur. Shivaram Karanth took Raghavendra to Ranganatha Thamankar, who offered him a job as a clerk at his drama company. He was entrusted with the sales of tickets and disbursement of salaries and wages to the staff of the drama company. Later during this period, he left his job.

He has said he learnt from Paramahamsa Yogananda, Swami Shivananda Tirtha and the wrestler Rajaratna Manick Rao,.[4] Kumaraswamy learnt various martial arts under the guidance of Manekrao.

He was sent to Lahore to learn under from Lakshman Das, a Yoga and Ayurvedic practitioner.

Jaggi Vasudev was an 11-year-old boy when he came in contact with Swamiji (who was then 78 years old) and learned hatha yoga from him.[2] Later on Jaggi Vasudev founded the Isha Foundation and came to be known as Sadhguru by his followers.

He claimed that he had treated more than 3 million people for various diseases with ayurvedic medicines, and yoga without any surgery. He built an Ayurvedic hospital at Malladihalli and Vishwa Yoga Mandira (World Yoga Trust) and various educational institutions, on a non-profit basis.

He was the author of books on yoga and ayurveda, as well as novels and plays in Kannada published under the pen name of Tiruka.

• Malladihalli Raghavendra