Shantananda Saraswati
Swami Shantananda Saraswathi (born as Chandrashekar on 7 April 1934,) was a philosopher, Hindu spiritual teacher and the founder of the art sanctuary, Temple of Fine Arts. He was the disciple of Swami Sivananda, of Rishikesh. [1]
Foundation and projects
In 1981, he inspired two great dance masters who were his devotees, to establish a cultural center in Kuala Lumpur that would impart knowledge of dance and music to children desired to learn. This center was named The Temple of Fine Arts. He taught, music, dance and art, have their origins in the Divine, hence, the word "Temple". Here, the divine is worshiped through the fine arts and art is taught just for the love of it. Today, the Temple of Fine Arts teaches various classical and folk dances and music of both South and North India. In all its centers,I t has become a government recognized non-profit institution. Once a year, The Temple of Fine Arts demeanor "Festival of Arts" - a week-long offering of art in the form of music, dance and drama, choreographed, directed and produced entirely by the teachers, students and other members of the organization. These presentations & stage productions are all given as a love offering to the public, free of charge.
In 1984, he mooted the idea of starting a restaurant with an unusual concept, "to be run by volunteers", serving authentic Indian vegetarian cuisine to maintain the movements of Temple of Fine Arts. He reckoned, it would serve as great chance for his devotees to serve, love and purify. The adage "athithi devo bhava" meaning "the guest is God" was the motivating factor. This concept a tribute to the Goddess of Plenty, whose name is Annalakshmi, and the ideals, the warmth and the service very soon captured the taste buds and imagination of diners and connoisseurs alike. Today, Annalakshmi brings Indian vegetarian cuisine to more and more people in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Coimbatore, Perth and Madras.
He was also the architect of other projects such as Lavanya(a visual arts centre that help support the charitable activities of Temple of Fine Arts and provides for the struggling artisans of India ), The Temple of Service (a charitable medical clinic with volunteers who serve by providing medical treatment to the urban poor free of charge), Hamsa Vahini Travels and Tours (a travel related agency to serve with love optimizing travel possibilities for all), and Sankhya Systems (an innovative international software company educating on computers and software). The sole aim of these activities were to serve the community with love and is an extension of spiritual knowledge for his devotees.
Authorship
Swami Shantananda Saraswathi has written several books namely, Sivananda Day To Day, Reincarnation, The Science of Mantra Shastra, What is Manthra, Honey Drops, etc. He has composed hundreds of bhajans ( Indian Devotional Songs) in Hindi, Tamil and English, and many thousands of devotees continue to sing these songs with much fervor.
Death
Swami Shantananda Saraswati attained Mahaasamaadhi on 27 July 2005 in Shivanjali Centre, Coimbatore, India.