Swami Jitendriyananda Saraswathy
Spiritual guide of Kattuparambil Devi Kshethram
Think of a bright lamp. Unless the glass around it is kept clean, we cannot see its brilliance, and the dust in our own eyes can cloud our vision too. It is the Guru who helps us see the divine light through every one of those clouds.
Sree Bhagavathy's divine light is always there for devotees. But we receive its blessings more fully, and more easily, when a great Guru guides us.
It is Devi's grace and our good fortune that we have Swami Jitendriyananda Saraswathy among us. With his intense austerities and a disciplined life devoted to God, he is a guiding light for devotees.
A life devoted to Devi
Born in 1964, Swami Jitendriyananda was drawn to the spiritual life from his early years. He has spent long periods in the Himalayas doing tapas with intense austerity. Devotees know him as a great yogi who can communicate with Bhagavathy. With Her guidance, he helps the many people who come to him to ease their burdens, whether material, health-related or spiritual.
He was ordained into sannyasa by His Holiness Guru Vidyananda Giri of Kailasa Ashram, Rishikesh, in the Himalayas. Swamiji also spent some time at Kanchipuram and was deeply inspired by Kanchi Paramacharya, His Holiness Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal.
Swamiji looks after the temple and makes sure the poojas and rituals are carried out in the traditional way.
Kailasa Ashram, Rishikesh
The history of Kailasa Ashram goes back to the 19th century. A young man from Punjab (now in Pakistan) came on pilgrimage to Uttarakhand and stayed at Muni-ki-Reti in Rishikesh. He lived very simply on alms, in a small hut of hay on the bank of the Ganges, and spent all his time in Vedantic contemplation and meditation. He was Swami Dhanaraj Giri.
His spiritual fame spread, and seekers came to learn from him. The King of Tehri visited him and asked him to open a pathashala (Vedic school). Encouraged by the King and his followers, Swami agreed, and the school became the famous Kailasa Ashram. The ashram has a Sivalinga that Swami brought from Kankhal (Haridwar), as Lord Siva commanded him in a dream. Swami Dhanaraj Giri served the ashram for 31 years, until he attained samadhi in 1911.
Great spiritual figures such as Swami Vivekananda, Swami Abhedananda, Swami Rama Tirtha, Swami Brahma Prakash, Swami Sivananda Saraswathi and Swami Tapovan Maharaj came to Kailasa Ashram to study.
After Swami Dhanaraj Giri, the ashram was led by Swami Janardhan Giri Maharaj, Swami Ram Puri, Govindanand Giri, Prem Puri, Vishnudevananda Giri, Nirdoshananda Giri, Chaitanya Giri, Swatantrananda Giri, Vidyananda Giri, and then Divyananda Saraswati. It was Swami Vidyananda Giri who ordained our Swami Jitendriyananda Saraswathy.