Swami Harshananda, Bengaluru head of Ramakrishna Ashram, passes away

Swami Harshananda, head of the Bengaluru unit of the Ramakrishna Ashram, died of cardiac arrest here on Tuesday, ashram authorities said. The 91-year-old seer had been suffering from age related issues and was on a wheelchair for the past few months, they said.

"Despite this, he moved around and took care of the affairs of the Ashram. After having lunch today, he went to his room, where he breathed his last at about 1 PM, an Ashram official told PTI A gold medalist mechanical engineer from the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, he chose to don ochre robes and become a monk.

Attracted by Swami Vivekananda's teachings, he joined the Ramakrishna Mission in 1954 and grew spiritually under the tutelage of Swami Virajananda, the sixth president of the Bengaluru branch of Ramakrishna Mission,Ashram officials said.

They said he was initiated into the monastic order by Swami Vishuddhananda, the eighth president of the Ashram, in 1962. Known for his administrative skills, the Swami had worked in Benglauru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Belur Math in West Bengal (headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission) and Allahabad, they added. He was president of the Ramakrishna Math here since 1989.

"Swamiji was multi-lingual and was an expert in Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Bengali and English," they said. He had composed several books in Kannada, Sanskrit and English, including 'A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism'. and was also a good singer and orator, the officials said.

Several of his works have been translated into foreign languages, they said. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa condoled the demise of the seer. In his message, Yediyurappa said "Swami Harshananda was a scholar who upheld the philosophies of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda. He was an orator par excellence," he said.