Sree Bodhananda Swamikal (1883-1928) was saint, disciple and Guru-nominated successor of Sree Narayana Guru, even though he died three days after Narayana Guru’s death, in 1928. He was an ordained sanyassi before he became Sree Narayana Guru’s ardent disciple. Though Bodhananda initially opposed idol worship, later he became member of all temple consecration committees under the instruction of Narayana Guru. He was also an active member of the Sree Narayana Guru statue samithi (committee) at Jagannatha Temple, Thalasserry, Kannur

Kannur

Kannur , also known as Cannanore, is a city in Kannur district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the District of Kannur and 518km north of state capital Trivandrum. During British rule in India, Kannur was known by its old name Cannanore, which is still in...

. This was first statue of Narayana Guru.

Bodhananda Swamikal set up the Narayana Gurukula in Fernhill Neelagiri, Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

, which he later handed over to Nataraja Guru, who was initially a teacher there. Bodhananda Swamikal was also major force behind establishing the Cochin National Bank which was intended to help the economic uplift of poorer sections of the society through self-employment and enterprise. He has written a book called Sree Narayana Dharmam. He reached Samādhi

Samadhi

Samadhi in Hinduism, Buddhism,Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools is a higher level of concentrated meditation, or dhyāna. In the yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali....

in 1928.