Paramahansa Yogananda was an Indian Hindu monk, yogi and guru who introduced millions to meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) / Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS) of India – the only one he created to disseminate his teachings. A chief disciple of the yoga guru Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, he was sent by his lineage to spread the teachings of yoga to the West. He immigrated to America at the age of 27 to prove the unity between Eastern and Western religions and to preach a balance between Western material growth and Indian spirituality. His long-standing influence in the American yoga movement, and especially the yoga culture of Los Angeles, led him to be considered by yoga experts as the "Father of Yoga in the West". He lived his last 32 years in America.
Sivananda Saraswati was a yoga guru, a Hindu spiritual teacher, and a proponent of Vedanta. Sivananda was born in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, and was named Kuppuswami. He studied medicine and served in British Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up monasticism.
Satchidananda Saraswati, born C. K. Ramaswamy Gounder and usually known as Swami Satchidananda, was an Indian yoga guru and religious teacher, who gained fame and following in the West. He founded his own brand of Integral Yoga, and its spacious Yogaville headquarters in Virginia. He was the author of philosophical and spiritual books and had a core of founding disciples who compiled his translations and updated commentaries on traditional handbooks of yoga such as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Bhagavad Gita for modern readers.
The Bihar School of Yoga is a modern school of yoga founded and developed by Sri Swami Satyananda Saraswati in Munger, Bihar, India, in 1963. The system of yoga taught at the Bihar School of Yoga is recognized worldwide as Bihar Yoga or the Satyananda Yoga tradition. In 2019, the Bihar School of Yoga was awarded the Prime Minister’s Award for Outstanding Contribution Towards Promotion and Development of Yoga.
Ramdev, also referred to by his followers with the honorifics Baba or Swami, is an Indian yoga guru, businessman and brand ambassador for Patanjali Ayurved. Ramdev is primarily known for being a proponent of yoga and ayurveda in India. Ramdev has been organizing and conducting large yoga camps since 2002, broadcasting his yoga classes on various TV channels. He co-founded Patanjali Ayurved and Patanjali Yogpeeth with his colleague Balkrishna in 2006. Ramdev has received criticism over his comments related to modern medicine, yoga, and ayurveda.
GOD TV is a word of faith Christian media network that started in the United Kingdom. The network's main offices are located in Plymouth, England, UK, and Orlando, Florida, US. Regional offices are situated in India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Australia.
Aastha TV is an Indian spiritual Television channel, owned by Acharya Balkrishna in India. Established in 2000, it is owned by Aastha Broadcasting Network Ltd. The network's directors are Santosh Kumar Jain and Prabhat Kumar Jain. In 2005, the channel started the broadcast of Aastha International through UK affiliate as it had done previously in the United States as a 24x7 service on the DTH platform of BSkyB in UK. By 2006 it was reaching 160 countries around the world.
Chaganti Koteswara Rao is an Indian speaker known for his discourses on Sanatana Dharma. An exponent in puranams, his discourses are widely followed and are telecast over television channels such as Bhakti TV and TTD and is quite popular among Telugu-speaking people all over the world. He was also appointed as cultural adviser for the government of Andhra Pradesh in 2016. He was also one of the 10 ambassadors Swacch Andhra Corporation. He is also hired for state government activities. He was bestowed with titles like Pravachana Chakravarti, and Sarada Jnana Putra.
Nithyananda, known among followers as Nithyananda Paramashivam or Paramahamsa Nithyananda, is an Indian Hindu guru, "godman", and cult leader. He is the founder of Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam, a trust that owns temples, gurukulas, and ashrams in many countries.
Swami Nigamananda Paramahansa was an Indian yogi, guru and mystic well known in Eastern India. He is associated with the Shakta tradition and viewed as a perfect spiritual master of vedanta, tantra, yoga and prema or bhakti. His followers idealized him as their worshipped and beloved thakura.
Swami Mukundananda is a spiritual leader, best-selling author, Vedic scholar, and authority on mind management from India. He is the founder of JKYog, a nonprofit organization based in Dallas, Texas and JKYog India, a non-profit organization based in Cuttack, Odisha, which offers a unique Yogic system, also known as Yoga for the Body, Mind and Soul.
Ath Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian content production company specialising in film, television and advertising headed by writer and entrepreneur Pankaj Narayan and Apoorva Bajaj. Ath Entertainment has made its mark in television production with its first non-fiction show Om Shanti Om – a spiritual singing reality show being broadcast on Star Bharat from 28 August 2017 at Sat-Sun 9:00 pm. Show's concept is brainchild of Pankaj Narayan and produced by Apoorva Bajaj along with him and Colosceum Media Pvt Ltd. Esteemed Panel of Judges on the show includes Sonakshi Sinha, Shekhar Rajviani, Kanika Kapoor along with Swami Ramdev who is Mahaguru to judge the spiritual quotient in the renditions on the show. Show is hosted by Aparshakti Khurana. Bollywood Superstar Ranveer Singh, Sukhwinder Singh And Rapper Baadshah had graced the occasion and performed on its launch episode and lauded the trendsetting concept of the show where Tradition meets Trendy. Ath has made debut in film production with Chal Guru Ho Jaa Shuru released in 2015 and has also produced award-winning documentary, Kitnashak along with various other, ad films and holds portfolio of several companies and NGOs of India, such as Patanjali Yogpeeth. Company has also managed and designed various award shows and known to bring famous Pakistani singer Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi, remembered for his songs 'Acha Sila Diya' and 'Bedardi Se Pyar' to Delhi, for his only concert in India at his peak in the career.
Sri Sankara TV is a national multilingual spiritual channel launched on 21 December 2008 owned and operated by M/S Kamadhenu Telefilms Private Limited. Since its inception in 2008, it has broadcast programmes depicting and promoting Indian culture and traditions. The channel programming includes programmes on Hindu Religion, Bhajans and religious discourses.
Avdhoot Shivanand Ji is an Indian spiritual leader and founder of ShivYog, an organization that offers meditation programs. He also conducts public discourses which are broadcast on multiple television channels such as Aastha TV, Adhyatm TV and Sanskar TV. He is also involved in various social development activities, which has bestowed him with various honors from communities.
Balkrishna is an Indian billionaire businessman and chairman of the consumer goods company Patanjali Ayurved. He was reported by Forbes to have a net worth of US$2.3 billion as of May 2021. According to Ashish Kumar of Arya Samaj, Balkrishna has successfully established and managed a global business without a formal education.
Swami Ramdev - Ek Sangharsh is an Indian biopic television series based on the life on Swami Ramdev. It is produced by Ajay Devgn FFilm Productions and Watergate Productions. It premiered on 12 February 2018 on Discovery Jeet. The show launched on Netflix with the title Swami Baba Ramdev: The Untold Story.
Ayush TV is an Indian 24 hour health and wellness channel broadcast in Kannada language, focusing on holistic medicine and therapies. It is a free-to-air channel that is available via cable and satellite..
Hare Krsna Content Broadcast Pvt. Ltd (HKCBPL), is an international media network and TV channel. The media network broadcasts non-denominational, cultural programmes offered by ISKCON and other Spiritual Organizations.
Modern yoga gurus are people widely acknowledged to be gurus of modern yoga in any of its forms, whether religious or not. The role implies being well-known and having a large following; in contrast to the old guru-shishya tradition, the modern guru-follower relationship is not secretive, not exclusive, and does not necessarily involve a tradition. Many such gurus, but not all, teach a form of yoga as exercise; others teach forms which are more devotional or meditational; many teach a combination. Some have been affected by scandals of various kinds.
Siddeshwar Swami was an Indian Hindu Lingayat spiritual leader known for his teachings on yoga and spirituality. Swami was the head of Jnanayogashrama, an ashram in the city of Vijayapura, in the Indian state of Karnataka. He declined the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, when it was awarded to him in 2018. He had earlier declined an honorary doctorate from the Karnatak University.
