It was, perhaps, a matter of time. After all Krishna Pattabhi Jois, the influential guru of Ashtanga yoga, was 94 years old and had not been in good health.

But with news of his death, circulated on the Internet, by word of mouth, frantic phone calls, on Ashtanga blogs and finally officially on the website of his K.Patabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute,  his students around the world made plans to descend on the Indian city of Mysore for services commemorating his life.

Jois, known as “Guruji” to his thousands of students, is credited with popularising the vigorous system of  Ashtanga yoga in the West.