Pujasri Kundala Gangaiah Prabhuji is born in a village in Andhra Pradesh to . He is a handsome and healthy child. Although not very interested in formal education he was always interested in studies of the spirit. Once when he visited Behrhampur of Orissa state he happened to listen to a lecture of a great yogi, Pujasri Narayana Rao Prabhuji. On that day the yogi while explaining the concept of ‘a sound mind in a sound body’, pointed towards the well-built tall athletic young body of Gangaiah Prabhuji as an example for a perfect sound body. Attracted towards the yogi, and inspired with his lectures Gangaiah Prabhuji approached him and requested to teach him Yoga Vidya. Narayana Rao Prabhu realized and noticed that the stranger who approached him for Yoga Vidya, as his disciple for whom he was eagerly looking for. Immediately he decided to teach the secrets of Yoga Vidya to him.
Sri Narayana Rao Prabhu taught him Nouli, Bhastrika, and several other intricacies of Hatha Yoga and Raja Yoga. Sri Narayana Rao Prabhu used to teach Atma Vidya to Sri Kundala Gangaiah at different places like cross roads, by the side of a drainage canal, and sometimes in secluded places and even during the late nights. He was satisfied with the capabilities and steadfast effort of Gangaiah and used to teach him the higher practices of Yoga Vidya. Later Sri Gangaiah Garu took his Guru Narayana Rao to his permanent residence at Icchapur. There he vigorously practiced under his Guru’s able guidance and reached higher states.
One evening in 1942, while conversing, Narayana Rao Prabhuji told Sri Gangaiah that rats are infesting his home and he has to take care of them. When Gangaiah garu suggested bringing a rat trap to entrap the rats, he laughed at him saying these rats won’t be caught like that. Thus ended this conversation. Next day Sri Gangaiah went to the residence of his Guru in the morning hour. There he noticed that his Guruji was lying in a motionless state in his room. He tried to wake him up but in vain. The people in the surrounding area came and tried to wake him up. They noticed that there was no motion in the body, they thought that he left the body and decided to arrange for cremation. Then Sri Gangaiah tried to explain that his Guru was a yogi and that he must have entered into some other’s body as he knew ‘Parakaya Pravesa Vidya’. He waited for two more days and noticed that there was no change in the body. He had to yield to the pressures of the local people and performed the last rights for his Guruji’s body.
Burma war was going on severely in those days. The recruiting officer came to Icchapur to select some strong persons into the army. Sri Gangaiah garu offered himself and got selected. He was sent for military training to Burma. One day, during the training period, he happened to see Captain Margarishan in the training camp. Then he immediately could see his Gurudev Narayana Rao Prabhu in his body and understood that his Guruji has entered into the body of Captain Margarishan. When Sri Gangaiah met him personally he was told that his Guru himself brought him to save the country. He also said that to save the country he entered into the body of Captain Margarishan who was lying dead in the battlefield. He taught all the necessary remaining aspects of Yoga Vidya to Sri Gangaiah and made him a full-fledged yogi. The teachings used to be internal. Sri Gangaiah returned to Icchapur after the war and settled there along with his family. He was doing a newspaper agency work to earn his livelihood.
Pujyasri Gangaiah Prabhuji trained few sincere aspirants in yoga. True to the nature of a jivanmukta he used to always be in a state of bliss radiating joy. He had several sidhis or divine powers. Once he put out a raging fire that is engulfing a village by mere will. He is also seen with two similar bodies at the same time in two different places. After leaving his physical body he entered another body and became well known as Cudappa avadhuta. In Cudappa, a small town of Andhra Pradesh he guided several yoga sadhakas and performed numerous miracles curing ailments and removing the sorrows of the devotees. In the avadhuta state Gangaiah Prabhuji used to remain in the state of Yoga Consciousness oblivious of the surroundings.