Swami Chidbhavananda

Swami Chidbhavananda Biography

Swami Chidbhavananda was a religious saint from Pollachi, Coimbatore who lived during the period, March 11, 1898 - November 16, 1985. His guru was Swami Shivananda who was a direct disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He established Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam in Tiruparaithurai, Tiruchi district in 1942. Since then, Tapovanam has established several educational institutions across Tamil Nadu. Other aims of this organization include propagating the messages of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, through books and other means. Famous Congress politician from Tamil Nadu Chidambaram Subramaniam was his nephew.

His birth name is Chinnu. He was born on 11 March 1898 in present day Pollachi in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu. He studied in Stanes School, Coimbatore where except he and one of his classmates all were British. He completed his graduation from Presidency College, Chennai. As per parents’ wish he decided to travel abroad to England for further studies and started its preparations as well. But he came across a book about Swami Vivekananda's philosophy, and got drawn towards the ideology of Sri Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. He got eager to learn more about them and started visiting Ramakrishna Math in Mylapore.

He went to Ramakrishna Mission in Belur, West Bengal, where he became a disciple of Swami Shivananda. Once he returned back to Tamil Nadu, he changed his decision and established an Ashram near Ooty. He established Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam in Tiruparaithurai in 1942 and since then worked for propagating the messages given by Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, and also set up numerous educational institutions. He authored more than a hundred books in Tamil and English, which include subjects like religion, philosophy etc. He also wrote plays based on ancient Hindu scriptures.

Published: September 01, 2018

Updated: September 01, 2018