Gnanananda Giri
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Swami Sri Gnanananda Giri believed to be born early 19 century. Since young, Gnanananda live the life of an ascetic. Gnanananda is a Mahayogi
Yogi
A Yogi is a practitioner of Yoga. The word is also used to refer to ascetic practitioners of meditation in a number of South Asian Religions including Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.-Etymology:...

, Siddha Purusha
Siddha
A Siddha सिद्ध in Sanskrit means "one who is accomplished" and refers to perfected masters who, according to Hindu belief, have transcended the ahamkara , have subdued their minds to be subservient to their Awareness, and have transformed their bodies into a different kind of body dominated by...

,Himalayan sage and Indian philosopher. He believed in Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta is considered to be the most influential and most dominant sub-school of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Dvaita and ; while the minor ones include Suddhadvaita, Dvaitadvaita and Achintya Bhedabheda...

 since he was lineage
Parampara
Parampara denotes a succession of teachers and disciples in traditional Indian culture and Indian religions such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism...

 of Peetam of Jagadguru Totakacharya
Totakacharya
Note the misspelling of the titleTrotakacharya was a disciple of Adi Shankara, the Advaita philosopher. He was made the first Jagadguru of the Jyotirmatha Peetham, the northern matha founded by Adi Shankara near Badrinath...

. He travelled around the world to spread the teaching of Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta is considered to be the most influential and most dominant sub-school of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Dvaita and ; while the minor ones include Suddhadvaita, Dvaitadvaita and Achintya Bhedabheda...

.

Birth and childhood

Gnanananda was born in the month of Thai in the Tamil calendar
Tamil calendar
The Tamil calendar is a solar and sidereal Hindu calendar used in Tamil Nadu. It is also used in Pondicherry , and by the Tamil population in Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius and Sri Lanka. It is also used by Telugu speaking people in Tamil Nadu...

 (January) with the birth star of Kritika in the village of Managalapuri,North Kanara District of Karnataka. He was born to an orthodox Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

 couple, Venkoba Ganapati and Mathi Sakku Bai. Gnanananda was named Subramanyam at birth, and left his home at a very early age.

Sanyasa

Sivaratna Giri accepted Subramanyam as his disciple and named him Pragnana Brahmachari. Gnanananda followed his guru, Sivaratna Giri like a shadow and showed great love in serving his guru. When Gnanananda was about thirty-nine years old, Sivaratna Giri indicated to his disciples his intention to "leave his mortal frame". Sivaratna Giri initiated Gnanananda in the traditional manner into the Giri
Giri
is a Japanese value roughly corresponding to "duty", "obligation", or even "burden of obligation" in English. It is defined as "to serve one's superiors with a self-sacrificing devotion" by Namiko Abe. Indeed, the conflict between giri and ninjō, or human feeling, is said to have been the primary...

order of Jyotir Mutt
Jyotirmath
Jyotirmath , also called Jyotir Math and Joshimath , is a city and a municipal board in Chamoli District in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is home to one of the four cardinal pīthas established by Adi Shankara.-Demographics:...

 and gave him the monastic name of Sri Gnanananda Giri. Sivaratna Giri died at age eighty-one on the full moon day in the month of Chitra
Chitra
Chitra is a Sanskrit adjective meaning "excellent, distinguished; bright, bright-coloured". As a noun, it may refer to:* Chitra, the Sanskrit name of Spica virginis**in Hindu astrology, the corresponding nakshatra ....

. The anniversary of this event is still observed with respect in every ashrams of Sri Swami Gnanananda Giri.

Tapas in Himalayas

Gnanananda adorned the 6th lineage
Parampara
Parampara denotes a succession of teachers and disciples in traditional Indian culture and Indian religions such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism...

 of Peetam of Jagadguru Totakacharya
Totakacharya
Note the misspelling of the titleTrotakacharya was a disciple of Adi Shankara, the Advaita philosopher. He was made the first Jagadguru of the Jyotirmatha Peetham, the northern matha founded by Adi Shankara near Badrinath...

 for some time. However he nominated one Ananda Giri in his place and retired to the height of the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

 for penance. Gnananda spent many years at the sacred spot of Gangotri and icy caves of the Himalayas in intense tapas
Tapas (Sanskrit)
Tapasya in Sanskrit means "heat". In Vedic religion and Hinduism, it is used figuratively, denoting spiritual suffering, mortification or austerity, and also the spiritual ecstasy of a yogin or tāpasá . In the Rigveda, the word is connected with the Soma cult...

. He traveled extensively on foot, spanning the whole India and Tibet, Nepal, Burma, Sri Lanka and Malaya. During the course of his pilgrimage, he met many holy men.

Teaching and establishment of ashrams

Gnanananda returned to India and established an ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....

 in Siddhalingamadam. Another ashram named Sri Gnanananda Tapovanam is situated two miles away from Tirukkoyilur
Tirukkoyilur
Tirukkoyilur is a panchayat town in Viluppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.-Etymology:'Tiru' + 'Kovil + 'oor' = holy temple village/place in Tamil....

. Gnanananda built temples for the deities of Gnanaganesa, Gananapurisa, Gnanambika, Mahalaksmi, Venugopala and Shiva in Tapovanam. Another ashram was constructed in Yercaud and was called "Pranavanilayam". There is a traditional way of praying by chanting in all ashrams except Yercaud. In Pranavanilayam, there are pictures of Sri Swami Gnanananda, Buddha, Sri Viveknanda, the sacred heart of Jesus and picture of Mecca. Devotees and monks there devote their time to do research and meditate. You can still see these ashrams in India.

Mass Spreading of importance of Nama Sankeertanam

Swamji is well versed in all the modes of Bhajana Sampradaya and he is very firm strong that Hari Bhajana was the easiest way to attain "Moksha
Moksha
Within Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...

".
He had chosen Haridas Giri  propagated the importance of Namasankeetanam.

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