23/09/2025
24 september verjaardag van
Sri Swami Chidananda...🌹🌹🌹
109th Birth Anniversary of His Holiness Sri Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj
Sridhar Rao (as Swami Chidananda was named at birth) was born at Mangalore in
the then Madras Presidency (now Karnataka State) of South India on 24th September 1916,
the twelfth day of Bhadrapada Krishna-paksha.
The astrologer who prepared the horoscope stated that the child would attain Siddhi in this
very birth. Later, this prediction was reiterated by none other than the Most Worshipful Holy
Master Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj when he said: "Chidanandaji was a great Yogi and Saint
in his previous birth itself; this is his last birth." From the time of his birth in 1916 till 1932, Sridhar lived in 'Manohar Vilas', the home of
his maternal grand-parents in Mangalore and
studied in Convent Schools there. Even as a child his innate spiritual bent of mind was clearly
discernible. The devout influence of Mother Sarojini and other family members, darshan
of Mahatma Gandhiji at a prayer meeting and reading of the spiritual autobiography of Papa Ramdas ('In Quest of God') kindled the spirit of
spiritual unfoldment in young Sridhar. Sridhar's
compassionate nature and selfless service of lepers and the needy including animals and birds -was well known. In 1932, Sridhar
moved to his father's home 'Kimberley'- in
the outskirts of Madras City (now known as
Shenoynagar) and in 1934 took admission in
the B.A. course in Loyola College, Madras.
Both at 'Manohar Vilas' and 'Kimberley', while
pursuing a predominantly Westernised English
education in Christian institutions, Sridhar
spontaneously imbibed and inculcated the
strong Hindu traditions and spiritual values at
home. In the words of Swami Krishnananda
(Guru-bhai of Swami Chidananda): "Being born in a meticulously orthodox family devoted to Lord Vishnu or Narayana, he was brought up
in an atmosphere of an ardent love for tradition, a respect for the necessary purificatory and
symbolic role that ritual plays in religion and an
adherence to accepted customs and manners
characteristic of a harmonious relationship
with human society. A beautiful combination of
ancient religious tradition and modern English education produced in him a personality which
tenaciously adhered to the humane social
values and the lofty spiritual ideals of Indian Culture."
Very early in life, Sridhar indicated his intention to adopt the life of a renunciate. As years
rolled by, intense yearning for God-realisation
became the driving force in Sridhar's life which led him to seek spiritual guidance from many
eminent Saints and Yogis and lead a life of Sadhana, Swadhyaya and Seva. Sridhar finally
renounced home and worldly ties on 6th of March 1943.
Swami Venkatesananda (another Guru-bhai
of Swami Chidananda) aptly summed up the
early years of Sridhar in the following words:
"Nothing had to be achieved for his own sake which he had not already achieved. He never
was attached to anything to renounce anything.
He never was a Grihasti to embrace Sannyasa. He never was a worldly man to abandon the
world. He was all this a Yogi unattached to
anything, a Sannyasi par-excellence, a great saint and very much more at his very birth."
