Mysore for yogis, the home town of Ashtanga

Updated October 16, 2026 · sources checked October 17, 2026

In short

Mysore (Mysuru) in Karnataka is where T. Krishnamacharya ran a yoga school in a wing of the Jaganmohan Palace from 1933, and where K. Pattabhi Jois founded his Ashtanga institute in 1948. Practitioners still come to study in the Jois shalas, mostly in the dry months from November to February. Check each shala's current rules on its own website before booking anything.

Why come here for yoga

Mysore is not an ancient pilgrimage town like Haridwar or Varanasi. Its place in yoga is modern, and very precise. In 1931 the Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV invited T. Krishnamacharya to teach at the Sanskrit College, then gave him a wing of the Jaganmohan Palace for a yoga school, the yogaśālā, which opened on 11 August 1933. Two of the most influential teachers of the twentieth century studied with him in this city: B.K.S. Iyengar and K. Pattabhi Jois (Wikipedia, Krishnamacharya).

K. Pattabhi Jois (1915–2009) met Krishnamacharya in 1927, studied with him in Mysore from 1932, and taught at the Sanskrit College from 1937 to 1973. In 1948 he founded the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in his home in the Lakshmipuram neighbourhood; to accommodate more students, a new shala opened in Gokulam in 2002 (Wikipedia, Pattabhi Jois). The method he taught, Ashtanga Vinyasa, is what brings most yoga travellers here today.

The shalas as they stand today

The family institution has divided, and the names can confuse you:

In 2019, Pattabhi Jois's daughter Saraswathi Rangaswamy moved her school into the K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute (KPJAYI) premises and renamed it the K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Shala, while his grandson R. Sharath Jois opened a new shala, Sharath Yoga Centre (Wikipedia, R. Sharath Jois).
Sharath Jois died in November 2024 in Virginia, USA, during a teaching tour, according to the Sharath Yoga Centre website. The centre continues; its FAQ (updated 29 July 2025) says regular classes are "taught by qualified and authorised teachers of SYC", are "open for students of all levels including absolute beginners", and that chanting classes are mandatory for all its students.
On 16 October 2026, the old address kpjayi.org redirected to sharathyogacentre.com. We could not find a separate official website for the Saraswathi shala, so we publish nothing about its conditions.

Sharath Yoga Centre's published practical rules: in-person teaching only, no online classes; no food or accommodation provided; Sundays and moon days are holidays. For in-person registration, after receiving its confirmation email, it asks for a printed confirmation, two copies of your passport and visa, two photos and your local address in Mysuru. Its postal address is in the Hebbal 2nd Phase industrial area (Srirangapatna Taluk, Mandya district), on the edge of the city: plan your daily commute.

A difficult fact belongs in an honest page. Accusations surfaced after his death in 2009, and from 2018 many former students, women and men, publicly described sexual abuse by Pattabhi Jois, notably during adjustments; in 2019 Sharath Jois publicly acknowledged his grandfather's "improper adjustments" (Wikipedia, Pattabhi Jois). It is a reason to ask any teacher, anywhere, how they handle hands-on adjustments and consent.

Sacred places

Chamundi Hill and the Chamundeshwari temple at its top, dedicated to the goddess who, in the city's legend, killed the buffalo demon Mahiṣa, from whom Mysore takes its name. An old stone stairway of more than a thousand steps, built in 1659, climbs the hill, with a large Nandi on the way (Wikipedia, Chamundi Hills; Mysore). Climbing at dawn is a practice in itself; take water and respect the queue inside the temple.
Mysore Palace (Amba Vilas), completed in 1912 to designs by Henry Irwin. According to its official website, it is open every day from 10.00 am to 5.30 pm; it is illuminated on Sundays and public holidays from 7 to 8 pm, and a sound and light show runs on other evenings.
Jaganmohan Palace, the other royal palace in the centre, the building where Krishnamacharya's yogashala was housed.
Dasara, the city's great autumn festival, ten days of processions that fill hotels and streets: if you want quiet practice, avoid those dates; if you want to see Mysore at its most festive, plan around them.

When to go

Mysore sits at about 770 m above sea level, which keeps it milder than the coastal cities. Its seasons are summer from March to May, monsoon from June to October and winter from November to February. In the reference climate table, January and February receive almost no rain, while October is the wettest month (about 163 mm) (Wikipedia, Mysore). Many practitioners therefore come between November and February. In any month, check the shala's own season and registration dates first.

Getting there

By train: Mysore Junction is linked by rail to KSR Bengaluru, which lies about 140 km to the northeast (Wikipedia, Mysore). Book on the official Indian Railways (IRCTC) channels.
By air: the nearest large international airport is Bengaluru; Mysore's own small domestic airport is at Mandakalli, about 10 km south of the centre.
On site: Sharath Yoga Centre notes that students usually commute by two-wheeler or auto-rickshaw from Gokulam or VV Mohalla.

Before you fly, read our page on the India e-Visa: the official text limits the e-Tourist Visa to short yoga programmes that do not issue a qualifying certificate.

Budget

We publish only official, dated prices. For Mysore Palace, sources disagree: on 16 October 2026 the official palace site still listed Rs 100 per adult, Indian or foreign, and Rs 50 for children aged 10 to 18, but on 25 October 2024 the press reported that the Palace Board had raised the fee to Rs 1,000 for foreigners and Rs 120 for Indian adults (StudyCafe). Budget Rs 1,000 if you are a foreign adult and check at the counter. Shala fees, rents and scooter hire change every season and are not published in a form we can date: ask the shala in writing, compare two or three rooms before signing a monthly rent, and keep receipts.

Etiquette

Be on time and stay for the whole class; the shalas take moon days and Sundays as holidays, so plan sightseeing then.
Dress modestly in temples; remove shoes where asked.
On Chamundi Hill and at the palace, follow the queues and photography signs.
Mysore is a working city, not a yoga theme park: respect your neighbours' sleep when you leave before dawn.

Health and safety

The UK government's advice for India applies here too: dial 112, the national emergency number; be wary of food or drinks from strangers, as spiked drinks have been reported; and take care of your belongings in crowds (FCDO, read 16 October 2026). Morning traffic on a scooter is the most ordinary risk: wear a helmet and check your insurance covers two-wheelers. See a travel health professional before leaving.

Choosing a retreat or a training here

Ask, and get the answers in writing:

Who exactly will teach you, and are they listed by the shala they claim? Sharath Yoga Centre publishes a list of the students it has authorised or certified.
Is the course in-person only, how many days a week, and what happens on moon days?
How are adjustments given, and can you decline them?
What certificate, if any, do you get? Compare with what Yoga Alliance does and does not certify, and with our page on the 200-hour teacher training.

Red flags: a "Mysore certificate" sold in a few weeks, a teacher who claims an authorisation you cannot check, or pressure to pay everything in cash before arrival. Pune, in Maharashtra, is the other great pole of Krishnamacharya's legacy: see our page on Pune and the Iyengar institute.

Questions people ask

Can a beginner study Ashtanga in Mysore?

Sharath Yoga Centre's FAQ, updated on 29 July 2025, says its regular Ashtanga classes are taught by its authorised teachers and are open to students of all levels, including absolute beginners. Other shalas set their own rules: read each one's published conditions.

Does the shala provide accommodation?

No. Sharath Yoga Centre states that students arrange their own food and lodging and that it endorses no service provider; it adds that students typically stay around Gokulam or VV Mohalla.

Is kpjayi.org still the place to register?

On 16 October 2026, kpjayi.org redirected to sharathyogacentre.com. Registration information is published there, not on a separate KPJAYI site.

What does the Mysore Palace cost to visit?

Sources disagree. On 16 October 2026 the official palace website still listed Rs 100 per adult, Indian or foreign, and Rs 50 for children aged 10 to 18, but the press reported in October 2024 that the Palace Board had raised the fee to Rs 1,000 for foreigners and Rs 120 for Indian adults. Budget Rs 1,000 if you are a foreign adult. The palace is open every day from 10.00 am to 5.30 pm.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions — Sharath Yoga Centre, Mysuru (official site, updated 29 July 2025) checked October 16, 2026
R. Sharath Jois (1971–2024) — Sharath Yoga Centre (official site) checked October 16, 2026
Mysuru Palace — Tickets and timings, Government of Karnataka (official site) checked October 16, 2026
Mysuru Palace increased Foreigners' Entry Fees to Rs 1,000 due to GST — StudyCafe, 25 October 2024 checked October 17, 2026
K. Pattabhi Jois — Wikipedia (founding of the institute in 1948, move to Gokulam in 2002) checked October 16, 2026
Tirumalai Krishnamacharya — Wikipedia (yogashala at the Jaganmohan Palace, opened 11 August 1933) checked October 16, 2026
R. Sharath Jois — Wikipedia (2019: Sharath Yoga Centre and the K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Shala) checked October 16, 2026
Mysore — Wikipedia (altitude, climate table, airport and railway) checked October 16, 2026
India travel advice: safety and security — UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office checked October 16, 2026

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