Thousands of devotees of ashtanga yoga will perform their primary series with a heavy heart today after learning of the death at 93 of the influential teacher in the movement, Krishna Pattabhi Jois.

The yoga expert, credited with popularising the ancient system of ashtanga, died at his home in Mysore, India, on Monday. He was responsible for bringing the physically challenging form of yoga to the west, and counted among his followers Madonna, who included the traditional ashtanga chant on her Ray of Light album, and the actor Gwyneth Paltrow.

Ashtanga practitioners perform a series of yoga postures, known as asanas, daily and in strict sequential order. Beginners carry out the primary series, moving on to the secondary series. There are six series altogether, but only a handful of students in the UK are known to have passed the third stage.

Although the yoga positions are believed to be thousands of years old, it was Pattabhi Jois who became the most famous teacherof the system in the west. He left his native India in 1975 to teach classes in California, and has visited the UK several times, teaching up to 300 students at a time.

In north London, the Triyoga centre in Primrose Hill issued a statement saying: "Guruji was much loved for his heart, his smile, his humour and his devotion – both to his family and to ashtanga yoga."

The centre is organising a memorial event on Sunday week, with a sequence of 108 sun salutations in his honour. All are welcome, the centre says, adding kindly: "Come and sit if you prefer."