https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Bhagawan_NityanandaBhagawan Nityananda - Revision history2026-07-31T08:37:36ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Bhagawan_Nityananda&diff=490657&oldid=prevSaraD96423049267 at 00:27, 3 October 20252025-10-03T00:27:38Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Bhagawan and saint}}<br />
{{other uses|Nityananda (disambiguation)}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2015}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}} <br />
{{Infobox Hindu leader<br />
|name=Bhagawan Nityananda<br />
|image= Youngnityananda.jpg<br />
|caption= Bhagawan Nityananda as a young yogi<br />
| religion = [[Hinduism]]<br />
|birth_date=1897<br />
|birth_place=Tuneri, [[Koyilandy]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[British India]] (now in [[Kozhikode district]], [[Kerala]])<br />
|birth_name=Raman Nair<br />
|death_date={{death date and age|1961|08|08|1897|12|df=y}} <br />
|death_place=Ganeshpuri, [[Maharashtra]], [[India]]<br />
|guru=<br />
|philosophy=<br />
|honors=<br />
|footnotes=<br />
}}<br />
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Bhagawan<br />
'''Nityananda''' (November/December, 1897<ref>{{cite book|last=Hatengdi|first=M.U.|title=Nityananda: The Divine Presence|publisher=Rudra Press|year=1990|page=iv}}</ref> &ndash; 8 August 1961) was an Indian [[guru]]. His teachings are published in the "Chidakash Gita". Nityananda was born in [[Koyilandy]] (Pandalayini), [[Madras Presidency]], [[British India]] (now in [[Kozhikode district]], [[Kerala]]).<br />
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==Biography==<br />
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===Childhood===<br />
Details about Bhagawan Nityananda's birth are relatively unknown. According to his disciples, Nityananda was found as an abandoned infant in Tuneri village, Koyilandy, Madras Presidency, British India by a lady named Uniamma Nair, who was married to Chathu Nair. The Nair couple adopted this child and took care of him along with their own five children. Nityananda was named as ''Raman'' by his foster parents. The Nair couple were farmers, who also took care of the farms owned by a wealthy lawyer named Ishwar Iyer, who greatly trusted them.<ref>Page 4 ''Life of Bhagawan Nityananda & Chidakasha Geeta'', by Deepa Kodikal Publisher Surendra Kalyanpur, Mumbai, 2007</ref> Nityananda's foster father died when he was three and his foster mother when he was six. Before dying she handed over her responsibility of Nityananda to Ishwar Iyer.<ref name=ns>{{cite book|author=Nityananda|title=The Sky of the Heart: Jewels of Wisdom from Nityananda|publisher=Rudra Press|year=1985|isbn=0-915801-02-7}}</ref><br />
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===Spiritual life===<br />
[[File:Bhagawan Nityananda Samadhi.jpg|thumb|Guru Nityananda Samadhi]]<br />
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Even in childhood, Bhagawan Nityananda seemed to be in an unusually advanced spiritual state, which gave rise to the belief that he was born enlightened. He was eventually given the name Nityananda, which means, "always in bliss".<ref name=mr>{{cite book|last=Brooks|first=Douglas|author2=Sabharathnam, S. P.|title=Meditation Revolution|publisher=Agama Press|year=1997|isbn=0-9654096-0-0}}</ref><br />
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Before the age of twenty, Nityananda became a wandering [[yogi]], spending time on [[yogic]] studies and practices in the Himalayas and other places. By 1920, he was back in southern India.<ref name=bng>{{cite book|last=Muktananda|first=Swami|title=Bhagawan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri|publisher=Siddha Yoga Publications|edition=2nd Revised|year=1996|isbn=0-911307-45-1}}</ref><br />
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Settled in southern India, Nityananda gained a reputation for performing miracles and curing the sick. He started building an [[ashram]] near [[Kanhangad]], [[Kerala]] state. The hill temple and Ashram in Kanhangad are now pilgrim centres. The Guruvan, a forest in the hills nearby where Bhagawan sat on penance, is now a pilgrim retreat.<ref name=bng/><br />
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By 1923, Nityananda had wandered to the [[Tansa Valley]] in [[Maharashtra]] state. There, his reputation as a miracle worker attracted people from as far away as [[Mumbai]], though he never took credit for any miracles. He said, "Everything that happens, happens automatically by the will of God."<ref name=ns/><ref name=mr/> Nityananda gave a great deal of help to the local [[adivasi]]s. Nityananda set up a school, where he provided food and clothing for the students.<br />
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===Guru===<br />
As a [[Guru]], Bhagawan <br />
Nityananda gave relatively little by way of verbal teachings. Starting in the early 1920s, his devotees in [[Mangalore]] would sit with him in the evenings. Most of the time he was silent, though occasionally he would give teachings. A female devotee named Tulsiamma (Tulsi Amma) (1882-1945) wrote down some of his teachings and his answers to her specific queries. Later, these notes were compiled and published in the [[Kannada language]] and came to be known as the ''Chidakasha Geeta''.<ref name=ns/><br />
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Some believe that Nityananda had the power to transmit spiritual energy ([[shaktipat]]) to people through non-verbal means. He could also be extremely fiery and intimidating in his behaviour, even to the point of throwing rocks on occasion. This was his way of deterring people who were not serious in their spiritual aspirations, or who came to him with ulterior motives.<ref name=mr/><br />
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In 1936, he went to the [[Shiva]] temple in the village of Ganeshpuri and asked if he could stay there. The family that looked after the temple agreed and built a hut for him. As his visitors and followers increased, the hut expanded and became an ashram. To the people around him, he was an [[avadhuta]]: one who is absorbed in the transcendental state.<br />
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===Final Years and Death (Samadhi)===<br />
Bhagawan Nityananda died on 8 August 1961 at age 63. His [[Samadhi#As mausoleum|samadhi]] is located in Ganeshpuri at the Samadhi Mandir. There is also a shrine dedicated to him in the [[Gurudev Siddha Peeth]] ashram at Ganeshpuri. His ashram, tourist hostel, and other buildings associated with his life in Ganeshpuri are preserved by the Shree Bhimeshwar Sadguru Nityanand Sanstha Ganeshpuri. This trust is also responsible for his [[Samādhi|samadhi]] shrine in Ganeshpuri, which is a pilgrimage site.<br />
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A trust at Kanhangad looks after the Ashram and temples located there. The trust also runs a few educational institutions and a [[Dharamshalas|dharmasala]].<br />
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==Bhagawan Nityananda’s Guru==<br />
[[File:Bhagawan Nityananda Bunt Bhavan.jpg|thumb|A life size statue of Guru Nityananda at Bunt Bhavan, Mumbai, India]]<br />
According to Bhagawan Nityananda's biographers, the identity of Nityananda's guru is a mystery. According to Healy, Nityananda did not have a guru.<ref>John Paul Healy (2010), ''Yearning to Belong: Discovering a New Religious Movement'', Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., p.10</ref> In one of his talks, his student [[Muktananda|Swami Muktananda]] said that Nityananda’s Guru was an unknown [[Siddha]] from [[Kerala]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Swami|last=Muktananda|authorlink=Muktananda|title=Satsang with Baba Volume 4|isbn=0-914602-32-2|publisher=SYDA Foundation|location=Oakland, Ca.|year=1978|page=17|quote=Q: Did Baba Nityananda have a Guru in the physical or subtle body? If so, could you tell us something of him and his lineage?/ Baba: Who would dare ask Nityananda about his Guru? It is enough for one to know about one’s father, and what the father’s father was like, is the father’s concern. It is only the father who would bother about the man who was his father. Nityananda did come from a line. He belonged to the line of great Siddhas.}}</ref><br />
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==Further reading==<br />
* ''Bhagawan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri'', by Swami Muktananda. Siddha Yoga Publications, 2nd edition (1996). {{ISBN|0-911307-45-1}}.<br />
* ''Life of Bhagawan Nityananda & Chidakasha Geeta'', by Deepa Kodikal. Surendra Kalyanpur, 2007.<br />
* ''Nityananda: The Divine Presence'', by M.U. Hatengdi, 1990.<br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[Bunt (community)|Bunts]]<br />
*[[Albert Rudolph]]<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==Sources==<br />
{{refbegin}}<br />
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* {{Citation| last=Caldwell | first =Sarah | year=2001 | title=The Heart of the Secret: A Personal and Scholarly Encounter with Shakta Tantrism in Siddha Yoga| journal= Nova Religio | volume=5 | issue=1 | pages= 9–51| doi=10.1525/nr.2001.5.1.9| jstor=10.1525/nr.2001.5.1.9| s2cid =143965805 }}<br />
{{refend}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
{{Wikiquotes}}<br />
{{Commons category|Bhagawan Nityananda}}<br />
*[https://www.nityanandatradition.org Nityananda the Living Tradition]<br />
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{{Siddha Yoga}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nityananda}}<br />
[[Category:1897 births]]<br />
[[Category:1961 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Hindu religious leaders]]<br />
[[Category:Malayali Hindu saints]]<br />
[[Category:Miracle workers]]</div>SaraD96423049267