Balagangadharanatha Swamiji

Balagangadharanatha Swamiji
Born(1945-01-18)18 January 1945 4.44AM
Bananduru, Bidadi, Ramanagara District, Bengaluru, India
Died13 January 2013(2013-01-13) (aged 67)
BGS Global Hospital, Bengaluru

Shri Balagangadharanatha Swamiji (18 January 1945 – 13 January 2013) was an Indian religious leader who was the seer of Adichunchanagiri, Nagamangala Taluk, Mandya district. He was awarded Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour for the year 2010.[1][2]

Swamiji was born to Shri Chikkalinge Gowda and Smt. Boramma as Gangadharaiah. He was born in a Kannada Vokkaliga Community (farming community) [3] He had five siblings - two brothers and three sisters. Shri Gangadharaiah completed his graduation in diploma Science from Government Arts & Science College, Bengaluru. Motivated by the desire to serve God and the people, he chose the spiritual way of life.

Initiated at the age of nineteen, Shri Swamiji spent his initial years mastering the Vedas and other sacred texts under the tutelage of his Guru Shri Ramanandanatha Swamiji.

Shri Shri Shri Balagangadharanatha Mahaswamiji took over as the 71st Pontiff of the ancient Natha Center of Worship, Shri Adichunchanagiri Math, on 24 September 1974 at the age of 30. He was of the line of Shri Bhakthanatha Swamiji, Shri Chandrashekaranatha Swamiji and Shri Ramanandanatha Swamiji of the ‘Natha Pantha’ (Parampara).

Balagangadharanatha Swamiji died on 13 January 2013, at age 64, due to kidney failure. He was undergoing treatment at BGS Global Hospital, under his control, in Kengeri after his blood pressure went out of control during dialysis.[4]

The mutt witnessed a revolutionary progress under his leadership with several of his flagship projects in education, religion and social service. The seer focused on providing humanitarian services including providing basic necessities like food, education and health for lakhs of people during the last four decades.

Awards

Year Award Name Awarded by
1990 National Unity Global Economic Council, New Delhi
1993 Award Hindu Temples Samiti, California
1993 Award Karanataka Samskruthika Sanga, South California
1993 Abhinava Vivekananda World Religion Conference, Chicago
2002 Parisara Rathna Karnataka Government
2006 Vidya Samrat Jain Swamiji Staying in Karnataka
2007 Seva Soorya Nivarana, Bangalore
2007 Sanathana Dharmarathna South America & Europe Country Hindu Temples Parishat
2007 Doctorate International Hindu Vedic University, United States
2008 Akshaya Santha Nagamangala People
2009 Doctorate Indira Gandhi University of Medical Sciences
2009 Doctorate Bangalore University
June 2009 Saadhanaacharya Mandya District Citizens
2010 Padma Bhushan[5] Govt of India

See also

References

  1. ^ Padma Bhushan for Balagangadharanatha Swamiji Raises Questions Archived 2011-10-06 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Police cane ashram devotees
  3. ^ "About BGS Sri Adhichunchanagiri Mahasamsthana Mutt". Acmbgs.org. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  4. ^ "Balagangadharanatha Swamiji passes away". Deccanherald.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  5. ^ Padma Bhushan Awards (2010–2019)