Release of commemorative postage stamp on Sri Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj on Buddha Purnima Day

Directorate has decided to issue a Commemorative Postage Stamp in the sacred memory of Worshipful Sri Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj. The Stamp Release Function will be organised at the Swami Sivananda Satsang Bhawan, Sivananda Ashram, The Divine Life Society Headquarters, Rishikesh on 21st May 2016, Buddha Purnima Day. H.E. The Governor, Uttarakhand has kindly consented to release the Stamp.

Chidananda Saraswati (24 September 1916 – 28 August 2008) was President of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, India. He is well known in India as a yogi, jnani and spiritual leader. He succeeded as President of the Divine Life Society in 1963, after the death of his predecessor, Sivananda Saraswati, who founded the Society. Chidananda's birth name was Sridhar Rao. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola College, Chennai. He took to a life of renunciation in 1936, and joined the Sivananda Ashram run by Sivananda Saraswati in Rishikesh in 1943. He was appointed General Secretary of the Divine Life Society in 1948. He was initiated into the Sannyas order by his guru, Sivananda, on Guru Purnima day, 10 July 1949. It was then that he received his monastic name "Chidananda", which means "one who is consciousness and bliss". He was elected President of the Divine Life Society in August 1963, upon the death of Sivananda. Chidananda Saraswati died on 28 August 2008, at 20:11 pm.