Biography
Swami Purushottamananda (1931-2005) was born on June 14, 1931 at Moodahadu, a village near Saligrama in the district of Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka (India) as Ramachandra Bayari. He completed matriculation and served as a teacher in Malpe and Madikeri.
He joined the Ramakrishna Order in 1960 as a brahmacharin at Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama (presently Ramakrishna Math), Bull Temple Road, Bangalore. He was an initiated disciple of Swami Yatishwarananda, the then president of Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Bangalore and Vice President of the Ramakrishna Order. He, as brahmachari Mukunda Chaitanya, underwent probationer's training at the Belur Math, headquarters of Ramakrishna Mission for two years.
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He served at the Bangalore centre for about 33 years (up to 1993), and successfully managed several of its activities. During this time, as in-charge of Vivekananda Balaka Sangha and Vivekananda Yuvaka Sangha (the twin organizations for the character development of youth), he guided and won the hearts of thousands of students. He was always a centre of attraction for the youth, especially those with an inclination for renunciation and service. Many young men and women have taken to the life of spirituality and service by his inspiration, several of whom later joined the Ramakrishna Math and the Sarada Math.
During May 1993 - Nov 2000, Swami Purushottamanandaji Maharaj served as the President of the Ramakrishna Saradashram at Ponnampet, Kodagu; and conducted a number of spiritual retreats and other programmes. The shrine and the prayer-halls were renovated and Sadhu-nivas (monks' quarters) constructed.
In November 2000 he took over as the President of the newly-affiliated Ramakrishna Mission ashrama at Belgaum. The historic building in Belgaum sanctified by the stay of Swami Vivekananda in 1892 for 12 days, was gifted to the Ramakrishna Mission by the Govt. of Karnataka. Swami Purushottamanandaji was instrumental in renovating this monument, and constructing a magnificent temple of Sri Ramakrishna in the adjacent land in January 2004. The Sarada Mantap (kitchen and dining hall block of the monastery) and the Sadhu Nivas (monks' quarters) also form part of the new centre.
Even while engaged in building the impressive temple at Belgaum, Revered Swamiji was instrumental in spreading the message of Sri Ramakrishna- Vivekananda throughout North Karnataka, especially in Dharwad, Bijapur, Hubli and Gadag.
The Swami, endowed with a divine voice, was greatly appreciated for his soulful singing, and was instrumental in popularizing the Bhajan culture. His recordings are highly sought-after among devotees. The Swami was also a gifted orator; his weekly and other discourses on various spiritual topics were attended by thousands of eager devotees.
He was a successful writer too, and authored dozens of books (mostly in Kannada). The three exhaustive biographies that he wrote on Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda are known as much for their authenticity as for their literary quality. The biography of Vivekananda won him the maiden 'Vishwamanava' literary award of the De.Ja.Gou. Trust. His other booklets on the myriad aspects of character development were very well received and ran into several editions, and were translated into several languages. Some of them, written exclusively for students, saw printruns of over hundred thousands.
The Swami was instrumental in the setting up of several voluntary organizations, Satsangs, as well as independent Ramakrishna Ashramas throughout Karnataka. He took a very active role in spreading the message of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi, and Swami Vivekananda, through his discourses, bhajans, and Satsang programmes.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.