Padma Shree Awardee Yoga Grandma Nanammal Passes Away At 99

At the age of 99, Yoga teacher Nanammal drew her last breath on October 26, 2019, at her residence near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. She was popularly known as the Yoga Grandmother and taught Yoga to around hundreds of students who themselves are yoga instructors today. The students groomed by her have gone to various places such as Singapore, Malaysia, United Kingdom, China, United States and Australia.

On International Women's Day 2016, she was conferred with the Nari Shakti Puraskar by the President of India and Padma Shree in January 2019 for her talent, skill and excellence in Yoga.

Key Takeaways:

• Yoga Teacher Nanammal dies at the age of 99 at her residence near Coimbatore.
• She was popularly known as Yoga Grandma
• In an attempt to recognise her efforts towards making people lead a healthy life, she was conferred with the Padma Shri in January 2019.
• She had vowed to continue training people even after 100 years of age.

Conferred With Padma Shri In January 2019

In an attempt to recognise her efforts towards making people lead a happy life, Yoga Grandma Nanammal was conferred with the Padma Shri in January 2019. She had vowed that she'll continue to train people even after 100 years of age. She hails from a family of agriculturists and started doing yoga after watching her grandparents do the same.

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Started Practising Yoga At An Age Of 10

Nanammal was born in 1920 and started practising yoga at the age of 10. She had trained around 600 Yoga 'Trainers' and this number includes 36 from her own family. In fact, the instructors she groomed have themselves gone to instruct others in countries like  Singapore, Malaysia, United Kingdom, China, United States and Australia. She also used to run the Ozone Yoga Centre in Bharathi Nagar in Ganapathy along with her son V. Balakrishnan.

Nanammal could do around 50 yoga poses including the peacock pose, the bridge pose, the headstand and the raised lotus pose. Even being a nonagenarian didn't stop her from practising yoga.

Nanammal retained her passion for yoga even after tying a knot with a Siddha practitioner. Also, she would do yoga at least once a day.  She led a life very close to nature. Her zeal towards pursuing yoga-inspired many to visit the city and get trained under her.

Yoga Grandma Could Do Around 50 Yoga Poses

Nanammal could do around 50 yoga poses including the peacock pose, the bridge pose, the headstand and the raised lotus pose. Even being a nonagenarian didn't stop her from practising yoga. She could do yoga even in a saree. She was also dedicated to creating awareness among girls regarding yoga's role in addressing health-related problems.

On International Women's Day 2016, she was conferred with the Nari Shakti Puraskar by the President of India for her talent, skill and excellence in Yoga. Not only this, but she was also conferred with the Yoga Ratna award by the government of Karnataka in 2014, according to The Hindu. Overall, she has bagged 150 awards and six national-level gold medals. She never took any sort of allopathic treatment for her illness and in turn, always opposed the use of the same.

Picture Credit: The News Minute

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