Swami Yatidharmananda

Swami Yatidharmananda is a Monk from India and is the founder of Swami Chidananda Sevashram. The Sevashram is a Socio-Spiritual Organisation dedicated to the life and teachings of Gurudev Swami Chidanandaji.

Why should I burn incense sticks? Why do we ring the bell so hard in the temple? How can anyone worship a living person as a Guru? Growing up in Cuttack, Odisha, Swami Yatidharmananda had a thousand questions like this about his culture, religion and spirituality.
Even though he was born in a very spiritual family and took mantra initiation from Gurudev Swami Chidanandaji, the Guru of the family, he admits to being the spoilt child of a businessman & magician father. His constant questions and not finding logical answers to them led him to become a non-believer at one point of his life. Things went even more complicated for him when his father left everything and became a Monk. He went to Sivananda Ashram especially to meet Swami Chidanandaji and to take his father back. This meeting led him to, in fact, have a powerful spiritual experience at the Holy Samadhi Shrine of Parama Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj.
With the directions of his Guru, he went on to study and work as a systems analyst in Delhi, post which, he landed in Hong Kong as a Computer Programmer, but soon his destiny brought him back to India. He had a strong urge to stay in the ashram and serve his Guru, which after initial refusal, was finally accepted and he became one of his personal assistants in the year 1996 when he was 24 years old.

For the following many years, he dedicated himself to the service of his Guru and had the rare opportunity to observe one of the greatest saints and his humility, sadhana and surrender, leaving a great impact on him. He dedicated himself to the service of his Guru and was blessed to be with him 24X7 for many years. He had the rare opportunity and blessing to observe one of the greatest saints that left an indelible imprint on his life.
Four years later, in the year 2000, he received Sannyasa Diksha from his Guru.
He was given the task of upgrading the ashram in the digital domain in 2003. He went on to designing many books and an informative website for the ashram, apart from establishing the audio visual studio and library to restore rare films of Swami Sivananda. Soon after, that lead him to becoming one of the pioneers in the digital archiving domain on an international level which he dedicates as his Guru Kripa only.
After the Mahasamadhi of Gurudev Swami Chidanandaji in 2008, he continued to serve at the Audio Visual Studio in the Sivananda Ashram.
In July 2012, he set out on his own to establish the foundation-Swami Chidananda Sevashram – a socio-spiritual organisation dedicated to the life and teachings of Gurudev Swami Chidanandaji. A monastery for the modern world, it welcomed people of all ages and backgrounds to live on the principles and practices of Ayurveda for the body, Yoga for the mind and Vedanta for the soul. It also brings together revered teachers from around the world for sharing knowledge and wisdom on various wellness based activities.
In July 2015, Swami Yatidharmananda got an opportunity to participate and speak at two panels in the Parliament of World’s Religions at Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. From April 2016 to September 2016, he undertook a tour of USA and Europe to commemorate the 100 th Birth Centenary of Gurudev Swami Chidanandaji where he shared the teachings from the life of his Guru as a tribute. During this time, he participated in the 2 nd International Day of Yoga at the UN headquarters, New York.
Following to 2016, he has travelled extensively each year to US and Europe to share the life and teachings of his Guru Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj. In 2018 He also conducted workshop at the Toronto Parliament of World’s Religions. Ever since, He conducts workshops on Relaxation and Meditation, Sings Kirtans and loves to share inspiring stories of his life transformative journey. He has also developed unique and impactful programs that heal, empower and transform you to tackle challenges in day to day lives.
Since September 2020 Swami Yatidharmananda is serving as the General Secretary of Swami Sivanand Seva Samiti, and living in the company of Swami Premanandaji and Swami Atmanandaji, the direct disciples of Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj at the Sivananda Ashram, Ganeshpur, Uttarkashi, Himalayas, India.
In August 2023 Swami Yatidharmananda was invited as a luminary speaker of the community plenary, one of the main stage event at the Parliament of Worlds Religions, Chicago. He was the only Monk from India who was a luminary speaker in the plenary.