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Yogamaharishi Dr Swami Gitananda Giri Guru Maharaj was born on 24 July 1907, in Maharajganj, northern India, to an Irish mother and a Sindhi father. His father, Sukraj Bhavanani, was a High court Advocate in the Patna High Court and an extensive landowner. His mother Leelavathi was converted to Hinduism through the Arya Samaj rites. Yogamaharishi received his early schooling at home from his mother. His mother died when he was eight years of age. When he was ten years, his Guru, Yogamaharishi Swami Kanakananda Bhrigu, (Ram Gopal Majumdar) entered his life. For six years, he studied in the Guru Kula of his Master, imbibing not only the traditional education, but also Yoga, Tantra and Yantra.
When he was sixteen, his Guru sent him to England to study medicine. After receiving his medical degree, he entered the British Royal Navy to serve as a ship's doctor during World War II. He was injured during the war, and used the time recuperating to further his medical education. He immigrated to Canada and set up his practice there, also establishing Yoga schools and centres wherever he lived. Pujya Swamiji was one of the pioneers to introduce Yoga to the Western mind in the early 1950s. He also hosted visiting Yoga Gurus and Swamijis at his centre in Vancouver. In addition to his medical practice, he traveled widely lecturing and teaching. He worked several years for the US Atomic Energy Commission in the United States and also took up assignments for World Health Organization in South America.
He returned to settle permanently in India in 1967 and established the Ananda Ashram in Lawspet, Pondicherry. In 1975 Srila Shri Shankaragiri Swamigal appointed Dr Swami Gitananda Giri as Madathiapathy of Sri Kambali Swamy Madam, which was then a dilapidated Samadhi site of around five acres in Thattanchavady near the Lawspet Ashram. Yogamaharishi Dr Swami Gitananda Giri undertook the renovation of the ancient Samadhi site with great enthusiasm and built what was acclaimed as the Shanti Niketan of South India and An ideal Guru Kula on the Madam lands. Thus Swamiji who was the representative of the North Indian Brighu lineage also became a representative of the Saiva Siddhanta Yoga Tradition of South India.
Pujya Swamiji became an active fighter for Hindu rights and leader of the Hindu community in addition to his many other numerous duties. He served as vice president of the All India Association of Maths and Ashrams under the presidency of Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal the senior Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Petam.
He wrote twenty-five books on the subjects of Yoga [1] and made ten world tours and more than twenty All India tours. He was known as the Lion of Pondicherry. [2]
Pujya Swamiji was Patron and President of many Yoga and Scientific Organisations World Wide. Notably he was Patron of the Indian Academy of Yoga with headquarters at the famous Banaras Hindu University. He was President of Vishwa Yoga Samaj, a World Wide Organisation of Yogis, and Vice President of the All India Association of Madathiapathis. He was also the Governor-General for Yoga (1992–1995) in the World development Parliament (Vishwa Unnayan Samsad) with headquarters in West Bengal, India. He trained many students in Rishiculture Ashtanga (Gitananda) Yoga. His students have established more than 135 centres of Yoga in 30 countries around the world. [3]
He received many honors in his lifetime. He was chosen by the Ministry of Health, Government of India, New Delhi, as a Governing Body Member of the prestigious Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy in March 1986 and he held this post till his death in 1993. He was awarded YOGA SHIROMANI by the then President of India Sri Zail Singh at the World Yoga Conference held at the Asian Village, New Delhi in December 1986. The Vishwa Unnayan Samsad at New Delhi honoured him in 1992 with the title Father of Modern Yoga Science. Pujya Swamiji had himself organised five World Conferences in Pondicherry, attended by professional persons and Yogis from all over the world. He sponsored the first International Yoga Asana Competition in Pondicherry in 1989. Since then an International Yoga Competition has been held each year in various places in South America, India and Europe. He was one of the driving forces behind Yoga Sports. Due to his inspiration and support, the Government of Pondicherry instituted an annual International Yoga Festival from January 1993 in Pondicherry, which features lectures by eminent speakers, Yoga Asana Competitions, and Yogic cultural programmes etc. [4] Due to his influence, the Government of Pondicherry has also instituted Yoga teaching in all Government schools from 1997.
Pujya Swamiji collaborated with many films makers in making educational films on Yoga, including the famous film MUDRAS by Rajiv Mehrotra. He also was the guiding spirit behind the immensely popular television series YOGA FOR YOUTH, directed by Yogacharini Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani which has been broadcast for several years from 1989 over Doordarshan, India's national television network.
Swamiji was a scientist and researcher and presented more than thirty papers on his scientific research into Yoga at various Conferences throughout India. He collaborated with scientists from leading institutes throughout the country including AIIMS in New Delhi, NIMHANS in Bangalore, DIPAS (Indian Defense Institute) in New Delhi and JIPMER in Pondicherry.
His work is carried on by his son and successor Yogacharya Dr Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani [5] [6] [7] [8] under the guidance of Ammaji Yogacharini Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani [9] who is current Resident Acharya ICYER at Ananda Ashram. [10]
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Hinduism:
Swami Dayananda Saraswati was a renunciate monk of the Hindu Saraswati order of sannyasa. He was also known as Pujya Swamiji and was a traditional teacher of Advaita Vedanta. He was the founder of the Arsha Vidya Gurukulams in Pennsylvania, USA; Rishikesh, Uttarakhand and Coimbatore Tamil Nadu, India. He was also the spiritual Guru of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan,, for his service to the nation in the field of spiritualism in 2016.
Sri Yukteswar Giri is the monastic name of Priya Nath Karar, an Indian monk and yogi, and the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda and Swami Satyananda Giri. Born in Serampore, West Bengal, Sri Yukteswar was a Kriya yogi, a Jyotisha, a scholar of the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads, an educator, author, and astronomer. He was a disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya of Varanasi and a member of the Giri branch of the Swami order. As a guru, he had two ashrams, one in Serampore and another in Puri, Odisha, between which he alternated his residence throughout the year as he trained disciples.
K. Pattabhi Jois was an Indian yoga guru who developed and popularized the flowing style of yoga as exercise known as Ashtanga vinyasa yoga. In 1948, Jois established the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India. Pattabhi Jois is one of a short list of Indians instrumental in establishing modern yoga as exercise in the 20th century, along with B. K. S. Iyengar, another pupil of Krishnamacharya in Mysore. Jois sexually abused some of his yoga students by touching inappropriately during adjustments. Sharath Jois has publicly apologised for his grandfather's "improper adjustments".
Pratyahara or the 'gathering towards' is the fifth element among the Eight stages of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga, as mentioned in his classical work, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali composed in the 2nd century BCE. It is also the first stage of the six-branch yoga (ṣaḍaṅgayoga) of the Buddhist Kālacakra tantra, where it refers to the withdrawal of the five senses from external objects to be replaced by the mentally created senses of an enlightened deity. This phase is roughly analogous to the physical isolation phase of Guhyasamāja tantra.
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.
Hariharananda Giri, was an Indian yogi and guru who taught in India as well as in western countries. He was born as Rabindranath Bhattacharya in Nadia district, West Bengal. He was the head of the Kriya Yoga Institute, United States, and founder worldwide Kriya Yoga Centers. According to some sources, Hariharananda was a direct disciple of Yukteswar Giri.
Amrit Desai is a pioneer of yoga in the West, and one of the few remaining living yoga gurus who originally brought over the authentic teachings of yoga in the early 1960s. He is the creator of two brands of yoga, Kripalu Yoga and I AM Yoga, and is the founder of five yoga and health centers in the US. His yoga training programs have reached more than 40 countries worldwide and over 8,000 teachers have been certified.
Dhanurasana is a back bending asana in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise.
Abhishiktananda, born Henri Le Saux, was a French-born Indian monk. He moved to India in 1948 in search of a more radical form of spiritual life, adopted sannyasa in accordance with Indian tradition and became one of the pioneers of Hindu-Christian dialogue. Multiple contacts with prominent saints such as Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Gnanananda Giri and Sri H.W.L. Poonja, led him to profound advaitic experience as well as to final recognition of the truth of advaita during the last years of his life.
Satyananda Giri, is the monastic name of Manamohan Mazumder, an Indian monk and a monastic disciple of Kriya Yoga guru Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri. He was a close childhood friend of, and brother-disciple to, Paramahansa Yogananda. In his later monastic life, he served as the leader of several yoga training institutions in east India.
Swami Maheshwarananda, born Mangilal Garg, known as Swamiji, is a yogi, guru.
Dharma Mittra is a guru of modern yoga and a student of Swami Kailashananda.
Anandashram is a spiritual retreat located in Kanhangad, a city and a municipality in Kasaragod district in the Indian state of Kerala. Anandashram was founded by Swami Ramdas and Mother Krishnabai, also called Papa Ramdas and Pujya Mataji, in 1931.
Kripalvananda, also known as Swami Sri Kripalvanand or Bapuji, was a renowned master of kundalini yoga and the namesake of the Kripalu Center, Kripalu Yoga style and Kripalvananda Yoga Institute, as well as a significant influence on Kriya Yoga in the United States.
Gnanananda (Nia-na-nan-da) was an Indian guru, referred to by followers as Swami Sri Gnanananda Giri. He was the Chief Disciple of the Sri Sivaratna Giri Swamigal and one of the leaders (Peetathipathis) of the Jyotir Math, one of the four Maths established by Adi Sankara. This lineage of Peetathipathis is also called the 'Giri' Paramparai, as seen from the Peetathipathis' name which ends with 'Giri'. Gnanananda is a Mahayogi, Siddha Purusha, Himalayan sage and Indian philosopher. He believed in Advaita Vedanta because of his lineage. He had a number of disciples including Vidyananda, Triveni and Dasagiri. He blessed Hari to 1. Haridhos Giri to uplift and help mankind from sufferings through Guru Bakthi Prachara Swami had a number of accomplished disciples through his abnormally long tenure- Bramanamda who took samadhi at Puskar, Achutadasa of Polur. He loved obsurity. He changed identity to avoid being recognised.
Swami Vachanananda Guru, commonly known as Shwaasa Guru, is a yogi, social activist, philanthropist from Karnataka, India. He took sannyasa at a very tender age. He founded Shwaasa, a non-profit organization which offers yoga programs in India and around the world. The foundation conducts yoga camps and is involved in various social and community development activities creating health awareness among people irrespective of age, religion, language, and cast.
Swami Vidya Prakashananda Giri, born Ananda Mohan, was an Indian spiritual Guru from Andhra Pradesh. He was a disciple of Malayala Swamy. He was the founder of Sri Sukabrahmashram in Srikalahasti. His commentary on Bhagavad Gita named Geetha Makarandam is one of the prominent works in spiritual literature.
Swami Avdheshanand Giri is an Indian Hindu spiritual guru, saint, writer and philosopher. He is the current Acharya Mahamandaleshwar of Juna Akhara and is the first person of the Akhara. Hence, he leads the whole Akhara. Juna Akhara is the largest and most ancient Akhara for Naga Sadhus in India. Swami Avdheshanand Giri has initiated about one million Naga Sadhus and is their first Guru. His Ashram is situated at Kankhal, Haridwar. Swami Ji is the President of Hindu Dharm Acharya Sabha and also a board member of the World Council of Religious Leaders.
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