Sri Sarada Vidyavanam
Sri Sarada Vidyavanam

Swamiji Chidbhavananda

   (March 11, 1898 – November 16, 1985)

 A powerful spiritual leader and a great educationist.

    Swamiji was born as Chinnu to devout parents, in Senguttaipalayam in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu.  His parents wanted him to go to England after completing his degree in Presidency College, Chennai. While making arrangements for his travel abroad, he came across a book about Swami Vivekananda’s philosophy called “Swami Vivekananda’s Madras lectures' ' from a wayside book-seller. The book had a profound impact on him; he started visiting Ramakrishna Math in Mylapore often and decided to become a sanyasi. He went to Ramakrishna Mission in Belur, West Bengal and his guru was Swamiji Shivananda, a direct disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. 

    As per the wish and advice of Swamiji Sivananda, he returned to Tamil Nadu and established an Ashram near Ooty. In 1942, he established the Ramakrishna Tapovanam in Tiruparaithurai, Tiruchi district. Since then, Tapovanam has established several educational institutions in Tamil Nadu and propagates the ideals of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda through religious and social activities.
    Swamiji Chidbhavananda has authored more than a hundred books in Tamil and English. His books address a variety of topics ranging from deep philosophical enquiry to contemporary social life. Among his Tamil books, commentary on Bhagavad Gita, commentary on Thiruvasagam, commentary on some of the songs of Tayumanavar, Ramayana and Mahabharatha, and among the English books, commentary on Bhagavad Gita, Ramakrishna Live Vedanta, The Indian National Education, Ramayana, Mahabharatha and Sri Krishna are worth mentioning.

    Since his mission in life was to give spiritual awakening, Swamiji started a unique way of doing it. He conducted Antharyogams (Spiritual retreats) for 3 days at a time. Swamiji emphasised the following teaching of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa to express the need for antharyogams:- "Householders should go into solitude now and then at least for 3 days, forget home, kith and kin, and spend the time in prayer and meditation".

    Founder’s Day is celebrated in our school every year in the month of March.

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