Date:30/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/30/stories/2008083056591300.htm

National

Swami Chidananda Saraswati passes away

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: Swami Chidananda Saraswati, president of Divine Life Society, Shivanandanagar, Rishikesh, passed away in Dehra Dun on Thursday.

Born in Mangalore, Sridhar Rao, as he was named, completed his education in Mangalore and Madras.

He graduated from Loyola College in 1938 and reached Sivanandashram in July 1943. There he dedicated his life to the service of the poor through the dispensary established by his guru Swami Sivananda.

Swami Chidananda, who was a strong believer in the power of inter-faith dialogue, had mobilised teams to respond to any calamity – cyclones, floods and earthquakes.

He had set up three colonies for the leprosy-affected near the Ashram.