https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Dhirendra_BrahmachariDhirendra Brahmachari - Revision history2026-07-31T17:20:14ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Dhirendra_Brahmachari&diff=457641&oldid=prevSherleneGirardi at 04:12, 15 February 20262026-02-15T04:12:59Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian yoga mentor (1924β1994)}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2019}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Dhirendra Brahmachari<br />
| image = File:John Hills with Dhirendra Bramachari and Amrit Desai.jpg<br />
| alt = <br />
| caption = John Hills discusses the World Conference on Scientific Yoga Conference program schedule with Dhirendra Brahmachari and [[Amrit Desai]]<br />
| birth_name = Dhirendra Choudhary<br />
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|02|12|df=yes}}<br />
| birth_place = Basaith Chanpura, [[Bihar and Orissa Province]], British India<br>(present day [[Madhubani district|Madhubani]], Bihar, India)<br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|06|09|1924|02|12|df=yes}}<br />
| death_place = Mantalai, [[Udhampur district|Udhampur]], Jammu and Kashmir, India<br />
| other_names = <br />
| occupation = Yoga Guru<br />
| years_active = <br />
| known_for = Yoga mentor of [[Indira Gandhi]]<br />
| notable_works = <br />
}}<br />
'''Dhirendra Brahmachari''' (born '''Dhirendra Choudhary'''; 12 February 1924 β 9 June 1994) was an Indian yoga teacher. Dhirendra Brahmachari was also yoga mentor of [[Indira Gandhi]] βThe former [[prime minister]] of [[India]]<ref name="tandon">{{cite news |last1=Tandon |first1=P.D. |title=The truth about Indira |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/the-truth-about-indira/211665 | publisher=Outlook |date=21 May 2001 |accessdate=1 June 2018 }}</ref> He ran [[ashram]]s in [[Gurugram Airstrip#History|Bhondsi]] ([[Gurugram]] in Delhi NCR), [[Jammu]], [[Katra, Jammu and Kashmir|Katra]] and [[Mantalai]] (near [[Sudhmahadev]] in [[Udhampur]] district of Jammu and Kashmir) and wrote books on [[yoga]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2018}}<br />
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==Biography==<br />
He was born in a [[Maithil Brahmin]] family<ref>{{Cite web|title=Yogi Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari Ji {{!}} Yoga Guru of Indira Gandhi - a former Prime Minister of India|url=http://www.yogaguruswamidhirendrabrahmachari.absyogaindia.com/yogi_swami_dhirendra_brahmachari_ji.html|access-date=2022-01-16|website=www.yogaguruswamidhirendrabrahmachari.absyogaindia.com|archive-date=16 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116120400/http://www.yogaguruswamidhirendrabrahmachari.absyogaindia.com/yogi_swami_dhirendra_brahmachari_ji.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He later got inspired by reading the [[Bhagavad Gita]], he left home at the age of thirteen and went to [[Varanasi]]. His guru was [[Maharshi Kartikeya]] whose ashram was at [[Gopal-Khera]], about twelve miles from [[Lucknow]]. Dhirendra Brahmachari studied yoga and associated subjects there.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldyogadirectory.com/Yoga-Teachers/Swami-Dhirendra-Brahmachari-1227.html |title=Archived copy |website=www.worldyogadirectory.com |access-date=6 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042256/http://www.worldyogadirectory.com/Yoga-Teachers/Swami-Dhirendra-Brahmachari-1227.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In the 1960s, he was invited to travel to the [[Soviet Union]] as a [[hatha yoga]] expert to train Soviet cosmonauts. [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] later invited him to teach yoga to his daughter, [[Indira Gandhi]], to improve her health. He is said to have guided Mrs. Gandhi's vision and ideas. He became influential politically in 1975β77 when Mrs Gandhi dissolved Parliament, declared a state of emergency and suspended civil liberties.<ref name="nyt">{{Cite news|agency=Associated Press|date=1994-06-10|title=Dhirendra Brahmachari, Yoga Master, 70|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/10/obituaries/dhirendra-brahmachari-yoga-master-70.html|access-date=2020-08-22|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><br />
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In the late 1970s, Dhirendra Brahmachari promoted the benefits of yoga in a weekly program called ''Yogabhyaas'' which was broadcast on [[Doordarshan]], the state-owned television network.<ref>{{cite news |title=Speculation rife about Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari's estrangement from Gandhi family |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19830815-speculation-rife-about-swami-dhirendra-brahmacharis-estrangement-from-gandhi-family-770911-2013-07-17 |accessdate=1 June 2018 |publisher=India Today}}</ref> He introduced yoga as a subject of study in Delhi administered schools, a considerable innovation.<br />
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==Ashrams==<br />
During 1980s, Brahmachari built Aparna Ashram Society in [[Gurgaon]] (now Gurugram) near [[Silokhera]] village, in [[Haryana]]. The air conditioned Ashram included an airstrip, hangar and a TV studio.<ref name=bhond6>1990, [https://books.google.com/books?id=I6R1g9aQqm0C "The Illustrated Weekly of India."], [[The Times Group]], Volume 111, Issues 13-25, p. 35.</ref> [[Indira Gandhi]] use to visit Brahmachari here once a week.<ref name=bhond6/> The 1980s teleserials ''India Quiz'' and ''[[Hum Log (television series)|Hum Log]]'' (ran from July 1984 to 17 December 1985) were shot here.<ref name=bhond6/> Brahmachari charged INR25,000 per shift for the use of ashram's TV studio facilities here for the shooting of Hum Log.<ref name=bhond6/> In 1983, Brahmachari had written letter to then Chief Minister of Haryana, [[Bhajan Lal Bishnoi|Bhajan Lal]], with a request to acquire 5,000 acre land around [[Aravalli Range]], potentially up to 70,000 acres in total, to build facilities to rival [[Disneyland]], including a yoga research and training centre, a wildlife sanctuary, folk arts and crafts centre, amusement centre and other facilities such as helipad, aquarium, planetarium and games and thrillers.<ref name=bhond5>[https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19830228-swami-dhirendra-brahmachari-plans-to-open-health-and-recreation-centre-in-gurgaon-771303-2013-08-23 "Swami's Disneyland."], [[India Today]], 28 February 1983.</ref> After the guru's death, his relatives and a tenant engaged in a legal battle over the ownership of the property.<ref name='IT'>{{Cite news |date=11 December 2014 |title=Gurgaon godman's kin locked in legal battle over property |work= [[India Today]] |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/gurgaon-godman-dhirendra-brahmchari-kin-property-dispute-230680-2014-12-11 |access-date=14 January 2024 }}</ref><br />
The aircraft hangar still has two ruined aircraft belonging to Brahmachari<ref name=bhond12>[https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19801130-swami-dhirendra-brahmachari-a-man-with-no-official-standing-but-awesome-power-821648-2014-01-04 "Dhirendra Brahmachari: The controversial yogi."], [[India Today]], 30 November 1980.</ref><br />
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He was the owner of [[Vishwayatan Yogashram]] in the centre of [[Delhi]], now known as the [[Morarji Desai]] National Institute of Yoga. He also owned campuses in Jammu, Katra and Mantalai, plots of land he had received through his Indira Gandhi clout.<ref name="nyt" /> Known as "the Flying Swami", he not only helped her form decisions and make appointments, but he also executed some of her orders.<ref name="nyt" /><br />
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He wrote books on yoga in Hindi and English including 'Yogic Sukshma Vyayama' and 'Yogasana Vijnana'.{{Citation needed|reason=no citation given for these statements|date=June 2018}} <br />
His ashram at Mantalai is spread over 1008 kanals of land with private airstrips, hangar, a zoo and a seven storey building in gandhi nagar, Jammu.{{Citation needed|reason=no citation given for these statements / claims|date=June 2018}}<br />
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Nowadays there are five known successors of Dhirendra Brahmachari yoga tradition: Bal Mukund Singh from India, Reinhard Gammenthaler from Switzerland.{{Citation needed|reason=no citation given for these statements|date=June 2018}}<br />
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==Criminal charges==<br />
Dhirendra was charged with buying an aircraft in the [[United States]] during [[The Emergency (India)|the Emergency]] imposed by then [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] [[Indira Gandhi]] and smuggling it into the country without paying customs duties, but he was never tried. Dozens of other criminal cases were filed against him and many dragged on till his death. In one case, he was accused of illegally importing gun parts from [[Spain]] for his factory, which had a licence to make guns only with local materials.<ref name="nyt" /><br />
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==Death==<br />
Dhirendra Brahmachari died in a plane crash, along with his pilot, when they hit a pine tree on 9 June 1994, while landing at the airstrip of his religious retreat and yoga school in Mantalai, a village in [[Chenani|Chenani Tehsil]] in [[Udhampur district]] of [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)]].<ref name="nyt" /><ref name='ASN'>{{Cite news |date=9 June 1994 |title=SN Wikibase Occurrence # 180030 |work= [[Flight Safety Foundation#Aviation Safety Network|ASN Database]] |url=https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/180030 |access-date=14 January 2024 }}</ref><br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
http://www.eng.vedanta.ru/library/brodov/Vasily_Brodov_Russian_Philosopher_and_Yoga_Practitioner.php<br />
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== External links ==<br />
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gZpf_FGj8o ''Sukshma Vyayam'' (A better way to health)], film by N.S. Thapa, Films Division of the Indian Government, 1950 - a film about yoga exercises featuring Dhirendra Brahmachari<br />
* [https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/10/obituaries/dhirendra-brahmachari-yoga-master-70.html nytimes.com]<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brahmachari, Dhirendra}}<br />
[[Category:1924 births]]<br />
[[Category:1994 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Indian yoga teachers]]<br />
[[Category:People from Madhubani, India]]<br />
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in India]]<br />
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1994]]</div>SherleneGirardi