ABOUT SWAMI GAUTAMANANDAJI MAHARAJ
(ADHYAKSHA, SRI RAMAKRISHNA MATH, CHENNAI)
The Swami had the good fortune of coming into contact at Bangalore with the Late Revered Swami Yatiswarananda, the then Vice-President of the Ramakrishna Order in 1951 and was initiated by him in 1955. Swami Yatiswarananda directed him to join the Ramakrishna Mission at Delhi. Thus he got his early training (1956-60) under the Late Revered Swami Ranganathananda, the 13th President of the Ramakrishna Order. He was ordained into Sannyas in 1966 by the Late Revered Swami Vireswarananda the 10th president of the Ramakrishna Order. He has worked among the tribals in Meghalaya, in Arunachal Pradesh and in Madhya Pradesh (Bastar Dist.) for about 20 years and has tried to bring the tribals into the main stream of National life through value based yet modern education. He has also worked in the Mission’s Bombay, Calcutta, Raipur and Narainpur centres. He had been the General and Executive Member of the Central Board of Secondary Education and of the National Council for Educational Research and Training, New Delhi, the two national bodies of Government of India. He is a Trustee of the Ramakrishna Math & Mission since 1990 and from 1991 he was in-charge of the Saradapitha, Belur Math, which is a vast complex of several Educational Colleges and Technical Institutions. He took charge as President (Adhyaksha) of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, in April 1995.
The Swami has contributed his humble efforts for the establishment of a permanent Exhibition of Swami Vivekananda’s life and message and Indian culture at the very house (Ice House) at Chennai where Swami Vivekananda stayed in 1897. He has also dedicated his efforts in the establishment of a magnificent temple, the 2nd biggest of its kind anywhere, of Sri Ramakrishna, at Chennai, which has become a landmark in that Metropolis.
The Swami is known for his sociable, humorous, soft but firm nature. He is a linguist with proficiency in English, Sanskrit, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Bengali. He speaks and writes on Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Philosophy and Indian culture. He is also a singer, mostly of Bhajans both in Hindustani and Carnatic styles.
The Swami has travelled widely, outside India also, to preach Vedanta; visiting U.S.A., Europe, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa.
