Milestones in the History of
Swami Satchidananda
1914: Birth
December 22, 1914
![1914: Birth](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/A2010RW-milestone.jpg)
C.K. Ramaswamy (Ramu) was born in Chettipalayam, near Coimbatore, in South India. His father, Sri Kalyanasundaram, was a landowner, village leader, Tamil scholar, and acclaimed…
Read more1921: Higher Education
January 1, 1924
![1921: Higher Education](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/A1996RW-milestone.jpg)
In 1921, seven-year-old Ramu asked his father if he could accompany him to the conference, not only to listen but to give a short talk…
Read more1934: Automobile Importer
April 11, 1934
![1934: Automobile Importer](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/A2998R.jpg)
Ramu’s uncle, Sri Krishnaswamy Gounder, owned a growing automobile business in Coimbatore and was the first importer of British cars in Madras (now Chennai). He…
Read more1937: Temple Manager
January 1, 1937
![1937: Temple Manager](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/A2001R.jpg)
The trustees of the Perur Temple of Lord Nataraja approached Sri Kalyanasundaram with an urgent request. “Do you think Ramaswamy would take up the management…
Read more1938: Householder Life
May 14, 1938
![1938: Householder Life](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/A3003Rcrop.jpg)
Srimati Velammai and her husband were concerned about Ramu’s future. He was twenty-three and still a bachelor when most men were married and had children….
Read more1942: Seclusion & Study
May 1, 1942
![1942: Seclusion & Study](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Sadhu-Swamigal-ashram.jpg)
After the loss of his wife, Ramu lived in a room in his father’s house and later in an eight-foot square hut in a field…
Read more1946: Spiritual Pilgrimage
January 14, 1946
![1946: Spiritual Pilgrimage](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/A2002RCrop.jpg)
In 1946 Ramaswamy wandered throughout South India as a mendicant. He devised this as a test period. “If there is a God, then God will…
Read more1947: Pre-monastic Vows
January 1, 1947
![1947: Pre-monastic Vows](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/A2005.jpg)
Ramu entered the Ramakrishna Mission at Thirupparaiturai, which was headed by Sri Swami Chidbhavanandaji Maharaj. Chidbhavanandaji was a disciple of Sri Swami Shivananda, one of…
Read more1949: Sri Ramana Maharshi
January 1, 1949
![1949: Sri Ramana Maharshi](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/u-g-P76G400.jpg)
Prior to entering the Ramakrishna Mission in 1947, Ramaswamy had felt something drawing him north toward the Himalayas. He had made the decision to leave…
Read more1949: Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda
April 1, 1949
![1949: Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/p153.jpg)
Sambasiva Chaitanya’s pilgrimage resumed. In the spring of 1949 he was able to continue on his way north to Rishikesh to the ashram of H….
Read more1951 – 1952: All India Tour
February 8, 1951
![1951 – 1952: All India Tour](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/A2885R.jpg)
In 1951, Sri Swami Sivananda decided to send Swami Satchidananda to care for a devotee facing a medical crisis. He also said, “I want you…
Read more1953: Sri Lanka
February 1, 1953
![1953: Sri Lanka](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/A2991R.jpg)
Srimati Selvanayagi was a young woman from a very wealthy Ceylonese family that owned many acres of land around Trincomalee. When Gurudev Sivanandaji traveled to…
Read more1958: Himalayan Pilgrimages
June 1, 1958
![1958: Himalayan Pilgrimages](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/p111c.jpg)
High in the Himalayan range is the majestic, glacier-capped peak of holy Mount Kailash, legendary home of Lord Siva. Along the way to the peak…
Read more1959/1961: Hong Kong and South Asia
April 1, 1959
![1959/1961: Hong Kong and South Asia](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/A1640R-1.jpg)
In 1959, Swamiji accepted an invitation from Sri Vasudeva Daryanani, the secretary of the Divine Life Society, to give a series of lectures and demonstrations…
Read more1965: An Invitation to the West
November 1, 1965
![1965: An Invitation to the West](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/a536R-1.jpg)
Sri Lanka—known as Ceylon when Swami Satchidananda lived there—was a true paradise. With its lovely climate and beautiful scenery it held a great attraction for…
Read more1966: To Europe
April 1, 1966
![1966: To Europe](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/a520R.jpg)
On the way to Paris, in April 1966, Swami Satchidananda stopped in Cairo, Jerusalem, and Rome. Mr. Yogendra Duraiswamy, Ambassador from Ceylon to Rome, knew…
Read more1966: New York City
July 31, 1966
![1966: New York City](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/L2072.jpg)
Swami Satchidananda arrived in New York the summer of 1966. He was hosted by artist Peter Max, along with a close friend and designer colleague…
Read more1967 – 1968: Interfaith Visionary
January 1, 1967
![1967 – 1968: Interfaith Visionary](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/a1090R.jpg)
During the late 1960s, Swami Satchidananda continued to foster the growth of the Integral Yoga Institute in New York, as well as to send students…
Read more1969: Carnegie Hall, Woodstock, a Record Album & Integral Yoga Magazine
January 31, 1969
![1969: Carnegie Hall, Woodstock, a Record Album & Integral Yoga Magazine](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/K8419.jpg)
Over the next several years, the Integral Yoga Institute of New York expanded its activities, began training teachers to begin to take over classes from…
Read more1970: Retreats, Earth Day, World Tour & Meetings with Remarkable People
April 22, 1970
![1970: Retreats, Earth Day, World Tour & Meetings with Remarkable People](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/a1387R.jpg)
By 1970, Swami Satchidananda’s popularity was growing by leaps and bounds as interest in Yoga exploded. He was invited to give talks at numerous universities,…
Read more1972: Vogue Magazine
January 1, 1972
![1972: Vogue Magazine](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Veruschka.jpg)
In 1972, Vogue magazine became one of the first major fashion magazines to do a spread on Yoga. The article featured Swami Satchidananda teaching Yoga…
Read more1972: Wellness & Yoga
May 1, 1972
![1972: Wellness & Yoga](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/c1466.jpg)
Throughout 1972, Swami Satchidananda was traveling continually and speaking to a variety of audiences. Of special interest to him was sharing his teachings on disease,…
Read more1972 – 1973: Ashrams, Pre-monastics & “Yoga for the City”
June 15, 1972
![1972 – 1973: Ashrams, Pre-monastics & “Yoga for the City”](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/A2276cropl-1.jpg)
On April 15, 1972, the first Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville opened in Siegler Springs, Lake County, California. For several years, Swami Satchidananda expressed his dream of having…
Read more1974: Patron of Yoga, Interfaith & World Peace Organizations
January 16, 1974
![1974: Patron of Yoga, Interfaith & World Peace Organizations](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/b3829.jpg)
By the early 1970s, as Swami Satchidananda was becoming more well known for his Integral Yoga system, for his views on holistic health and wellness,…
Read more1975 – 1976: Integral Health Services
March 21, 1975
![1975 – 1976: Integral Health Services](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/e384R.jpg)
In March 1975, Sandra (Amrita) McLanahan, MD, (pictured above with Swamiji) opened Satchidananda Clinic in Putnam, Connecticut. The Clinic was located in the town closest…
Read more1977: Medical Schools and a Yoga School
January 1, 1977
![1977: Medical Schools and a Yoga School](https://swamisatchidananda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Johns-Hopkins.jpg)
From the early-1970s onward, Swami Satchidananda received more and more requests to speak about his ideas regarding illness vs. wellness, dis-ease, preventive and integrative medicine….
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