Swami Chidbhavananda (March 11, 1898 – November 16, 1985) was born in Senguttaipalayam near Pollachi in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu. He studied in Stanes School, Coimbatore. He was one of the two Bharatiya in his class, the rest being British. His parents wanted him to go to England after completing his degree in Presidency College, Chennai.

While making arrangements for his travel abroad, he came across a book about Swami Vivekananda’s philosophy. The book had a profound impact on his mind. He started visiting Ramakrishna Matt in Mylapore often and had discussions with Swamijis. Finally, he decided to become a no-voice and went to Ramakrishna Mission in Belur, West Bengal. His guru was Swami Shivananda who was a direct disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

 As per the wish and advice of Swami Sivananda, he returned to Tamil Nadu and established an Ashram near Ooty. In 1942, he established the Ramakrishna Tapovanam in Tiruparaithurai, Tiruchi district. Since then, Tapovanam has established several educational institutions in Tamil Nadu and spread the ideals of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda through religious and social activities such as book publishing.

 Swami Chidbhavananda has authored more than a hundred books in Tamil and English. His books address a variety of topics ranging from deep philosophical enquiry to contemporary social life.

 Swami Chidbhavananda view on RSS

 Swami Chidbhavananda, a leonine Sanyasi, addressing the trainees at the Sangh Shiksha Varga,once said: “The man-making training you are receiving in Sangh is exactly the one that Swami Vivekananda had conceived of for our young men”