COIMBATORE: After leading the charge against a seemingly decadent modern lifestyle for many decades, Nanammal, believed to be oldest exponent of Yoga in the country, breathed her last on Saturday afternoon. She was 99. Revered as Yogapaati, Nanammal till about last month, represented an old school of thought that believed that the strength to tackle life, and its myriad problems, came from within.
A steadfast opponent of allopathic medicine, Nanammal took great pride in never having made an appointment with doctors. However, in her last days, doctors did appear beside her bed, after suffering a fall over a week ago. The leg injury she sustained in the fall restricted her mobility.
Nanammal trained thousands of students and hundreds of instructors through her Ozone and Anadham Yoga Centre. Her contributions earned her many accolades and a steady trickle of awards reached at her doorsteps. Padma Shri was conferred on her in 2018.