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Jiddu Nityananda
‐
Younger brother of Jiddu Krishnamurti, a spiritual figure in the Theosophical movement
Other names
Nitya
Nitya Krishnamurti
Nityananda
Place of birth
Date of arrival to Britain
Location(s)
South Kensington, London
SW10 9RT
United Kingdom
Date of time spent in Britain
Intermittently from 1911 until his death in 1925
About
Nityananda (Nitya) was the younger brother of Krishnamurti, the Theosophist leader. He was 'discovered' along with his brother by C. W. Leadbeater in 1910 and brought to England in 1911 by Annie Besant for his education.
On his first arrival, Nityananda lived with Annie Besant and the Brights at 82 Drayton Gardens, South Kensington. The brothers moved around a lot in London, staying at the homes of various Theosophists including Countess De La Warr's home, Old Lodge, in Ashdown Forest; a flat belonging to Muriel De La Warr at Robert Street, Adelphi; and the house of Mary Dodge on West Side Common.
Nityananda passed the London Matriculation after the First World War and began to read for the Bar. He suffered from tuberculosis and died in 1925. Mary Lutyens, the daughter of Edwin and Emily, recalls her infatuation and crush on Nitya as a young girl.
George Arundale (tutor), Harold Baillie-Weaver, Annie Besant, Esther Bright, Muriel De La Warr, C. R. Jinarajadasa (tutor), Jiddu Krishnamurti, C. W. Leadbeater, Edwin Lutyens, Emily Lutyens, Mary Lutyens, Rajagopal.
Bright, Esther, Old Memories and Letters of Annie Besant (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1936)
Lutyens, Emily, Candles in the Sun (London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1957)
Lutyens, Mary, To Be Young: Some Chapters of Autobiography (London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1959)
Image credit
© Remaking Britain: South Asian Connections and Networks, 1930s – present
