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{{Short description|American Hindu guru (born 1942)}}
{{Infobox Hindu leader
| name = Bodhinatha Veylanswami
| image = Bodhinatha Veylanswami.jpg
| caption = Bodhinatha Veylanswami, [[Hindu]] [[Saivite]] Guru Mahasannidhanam of the [[Kailasa]] [[Parampara]] of the [[Nandinatha Sampradaya]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1942|10|15|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Berkeley, California]], [[United States]]
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| predecessor = [[Sivaya Subramuniyaswami]]
| sect = [[Shaivism]]
| initiated = [[Sannyasa]]
| initiation_date = March 1972
| initiation_place = [[Alaveddy]], Sri Lanka
| subsect = [[Shaiva Siddhanta]]<br />[[Nath]] ([[Nandinatha Sampradaya]])
}}

'''Bodhinatha Veylanswami''' (born 15 October 1942) is an American [[Hindu]] [[sannyasi]] (monk) and religious leader who serves as the head of [[Kauai]]'s Hindu Monastery and publisher of ''[[Hinduism Today]]'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/lineage-philosophy/bodhinatha |title=Kauai's Hindu Monastery – Our Guru Lineage}}</ref> He is regarded within the tradition as the 163rd head of the self-identified [[Nandinatha Sampradaya]]'s [[Kailasa]] [[Parampara]] and serves as the guru of Kauai's Hindu Monastery, a 382-acre temple-monastery complex on the Hawaiian island of [[Kauai]].

He is known for initiatives aimed at digitising the Saiva [[Āgama (Hinduism)|Agamas]], the scriptures of the [[Saivism|Saivite]] tradition and a foundational source for Hindu temple liturgy, and making them freely available online for study and preservation. He has also promoted a reform-oriented interpretation of [[Saivism]] that discourages [[Animal sacrifice in Hinduism|animal sacrifice]] and advocates [[Hindu vegetarianism|vegetarian practices]] within Hindu religious life.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://himalayanacademy.com/blog/taka/2011/07/18/agamapriest-conference-in-chennai/ |title=Today at Kauai's Hindu Monastery |date=18 July 2011}}</ref> Members of the [[Adi Saiva]] [[Sivachariyar]] priestly community have honoured him as “The Supreme Acharya who has uplifted and preserved the Agamas and the Agama tradition.”<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://himalayanacademy.com/blog/taka/2011/07/24/bodhinatha-in-chennai-july-17/ |title=Today at Kauai's Hindu Monastery |date=24 July 2011}}</ref>

Bodhinatha presides over three organisations: [[Saiva Siddhanta Church]], Himalayan Academy Publications and Hindu Heritage Endowment.

== Biography ==

Bodhinatha was born in [[Berkeley, California]], on 15 October 1942. He began studying [[Vedanta]] and meditation in 1960 and soon developed a strong interest in monastic life. In March 1972, he received [[sannyasa]] [[diksha]] from [[Sivaya Subramuniyaswami]] in [[Alaveddy]], Sri Lanka. A few weeks later, he received the name Veylanswami at the [[Murugan]] Temple in the [[Palani Hills]].<ref name="gurudeva1" />

In 1988, in preparation for initiation as an [[acharya]] in the [[Saiva Siddhanta Church|Saiva Siddhanta Yoga Order]], Bodhinatha undertook a six-month pilgrimage across [[India]]. Upon returning to [[Kauai]], he was ordained as the first acharya of the religious order.<ref name="gurudeva1" />

From 1993 onwards, Bodhinatha supervised the formation and development of Hindu Heritage Endowment, a tax-exempt endowment that provides financial support to several Hindu institutions and initiatives around the world. The organisation includes more than 80 individual funds, with combined assets exceeding US$10 million.<ref>[http://www.hheonline.org/Gurudeva_HHE_Intro.shtml Endowment Stories] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211211715/http://www.hheonline.org/Gurudeva_HHE_Intro.shtml|date=11 February 2011}}</ref>

On 21 October 2001, Bodhinatha was appointed successor to [[Sivaya Subramuniyaswami]] and formally assumed the title Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami.<ref name="gurudeva1" />

== Spiritual lineage ==

Bodhinatha is the appointed successor of Satguru [[Sivaya Subramuniyaswami]], an influential [[Hindu]] [[Saivite]] guru. In ''A Survey of Hinduism'', Hindu studies scholar [[Klaus Klostermaier]] wrote that Subramuniyaswami “did much to propagate a kind of reformed Saivism through his books.” Bodhinatha has continued this reform-oriented interpretation through Kauai's Hindu Monastery, which discourages animal sacrifice within Saivite practice.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/kamika-agama-purva-pada-part-1 |title=Kamika Agama – Purva Pada (Shaivite Hindu Text)}}</ref>

As founder-editor of ''[[Hinduism Today]]'', Subramuniyaswami became one of the most prominent advocates of Hinduism outside India.<ref>''A Survey of Hinduism'', 3rd edition, p. 231.</ref> He appointed Bodhinatha as leader of [[Saiva Siddhanta Church]] and as the 163rd Guru Mahasannidhanam of the [[Kailasa]] [[Parampara]] lineage,<ref name="gurudeva1">{{Cite web |url=http://www.gurudeva.org/satgurus/bodhinatha/ |title=Kauai's Hindu Monastery – Our Guru Lineage}}</ref> a position of religious authority within the [[Saivism|Saivite]] tradition.<ref>"Hinduism does not have an organised hierarchy, but to followers of the Saiva tradition Sri Bodhinatha is a pope-like figure." [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/eastern-faith-finds-a-place-in-everyday-western-life/2006/01/27/1138319450075.html ''SMH News'', Australia]</ref>

He follows the [[Shaivism]] sect, particularly the [[Shaiva Siddhanta]] tradition, and belongs to the [[Nandinatha Sampradaya]]'s [[Kailasa]] [[Parampara]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dancingwithsivah00subr_0|title=Dancing with Siva|publisher=Himalayan Academy|year=1997|isbn=9780945497974|location=USA|pages=ŚLOKA 152}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dancingwithsivah00subr_0|title=Dancing with Siva|publisher=Himalayan Academy|year=1997|isbn=9780945497974|location=USA|pages=ŚLOKA 151}}</ref>

'''Spiritual lineage''': [[Nandi (Hinduism)|Maharishi Nandinath]] → Sundaranandar (later [[Tirumular]]) → Kadaitswami → [[Chellapaswami]] → [[Yogaswami|Siva Yogaswami]] → [[Sivaya Subramuniyaswami]] → Bodhinatha Veylanswami.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/lineage-philosophy/lineage|title=Our Spiritual Lineage, the Kailasa Parampara}}</ref>

== Worldwide activities ==

Bodhinatha Veylanswami was a keynote speaker at the Hindu Convocation of the [[Parliament of the World's Religions]] held in [[Melbourne]], Australia, described as an assembly of several prominent Hindu spiritual leaders from India.<ref>[http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/index.cfm?n=7&sn=11 PROGRAM / Convocation of Spiritual Leaders of India | Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706050556/http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/index.cfm?n=7&sn=11 |date=6 July 2010}}</ref>

In December 2009, he moderated the session “Is Yoga Hindu?” at the Parliament of the World's Religions,<ref>[http://blogs.abc.net.au/religion/2009/12/is-yoga-hindu.html ABC Religion Blog – Is yoga Hindu?] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091215212152/http://blogs.abc.net.au/religion/2009/12/is-yoga-hindu.html |date=15 December 2009}}</ref> an event that later contributed to the [[Hindu American Foundation]]'s “Take Back Yoga” campaign.

Bodhinatha is a frequent speaker among Hindu communities, especially within the [[Hindu diaspora]] in the [[United States]], [[Malaysia]], [[Mauritius]] and [[Singapore]]. ''Indo-American News'' described him as “a formidable force in championing the cause of Hinduism”.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indoamerican-news.com/IndoAmericanNews/091109/091109A1-14-WEB.pdf |title=Archived copy |website=www.indoamerican-news.com |access-date=22 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225031841/http://www.indoamerican-news.com/IndoAmericanNews/091109/091109A1-14-WEB.pdf |archive-date=25 December 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Under Bodhinatha's guidance, the monks and initiates of Kauai's Hindu Monastery have continued the construction of [[Iraivan Temple]], described as the first all-granite, hand-carved Hindu temple in the [[United States]]. He has also participated in outreach and unity initiatives associated with the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS).<ref>{{Cite web |last=PTI |date=2023-11-24 |title='Reach out to fellow Hindus. Together we will connect everybody in world,' says RSS chief Bhagwat |url=https://theprint.in/india/connect-with-fellow-hindus-and-world-conquer-hearts-rss-chief-mohan-bhagwat/1857391/ |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=ThePrint |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Images ==
{{Gallery
|title=
|align=
|footer=
|File:Natha-Swamis-2008.jpg
|alt1=
|Bodhinatha attends a conference of Natha Sampradaya swamis hosted by [[Balagangadharanatha Swamiji]]. Includes [[Yogi Adityanath]] on center right.
|File:Bodhinatha on the Guru Peedham of Kauai Aadheenam.JPG
|alt2=
|Bodhinatha on the ''Guru Peedham'' (the seat of authority) of [[Kauai]] Aadheenam
|File:Bodhinatha-samaya-diksha.JPG
|alt3=
|Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives samaya diksha, initiation into the sacred [[Aum Namah Shivaya]] [[mantra]], to a devotee at Tirunnavamalai in 2008.
}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veylanswami, Satguru Bodhinatha}}
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century Hindu religious leaders]]
[[Category:21st-century Hindu religious leaders]]
[[Category:American Hindus]]
[[Category:Converts to Hinduism]]
[[Category:Shaivite religious leaders]]

Bodhinatha Veylanswami - Revision history

Bharatwiki Socrates at 04:10, 16 May 2026