One of the greatest philosophers of India, Adi Shankaracharya founded the Advaita Vedanta, which is one of the sub-schools of Vedanta. Adi Shankaracharya whole-heartedly believed in the concept of the Vedas but at the same time advocated against the rituals and religious practices that were over exaggerated. On a closer introspection of the life history of Sri Sankaracharya, we find that he also started the monastic order known as Dashanami and the Shanmata convention of worship. Given here is Adi Shankaracharya biography, which will give you valuable insight into the life of this great poet and philosopher.
Born: 788 CE, Kaladi, Chera Kingdom present day Kerala, India
Died: 820 CE, Kedarnath, Pala Empire present day Uttarakhand, India
Titles/Honours: Expounded Advaita Vedanta, Hindu Revivalism, Founded Dashanami Sampradaya, Shanmata
Guru: Govinda Bhagavatpada
Philosophy: Advaita Vedanta
Swami Kuvalayananda was born Jagannatha Ganesa Gune in a traditional Brahmin family in the village Dhaboi in Gujaratstate, India.. Kuvalayananda’s father, Sri Ganesa Gune, was a teacher and his mother, Srimati Saraswati, a housewife. Kuvalayananda's first guru was Rajaratna Manikrao, a professor at the Jummadada Vyayamshala in Baroda. From 1907 to 1910, Manikrao trained Kuvalayananda in the Indian System of Physical Education which Kuvalayananda advocated throughout his life. As early as the 1930's, Kuvalayananda trained large groups of yoga teachers as a way to spread physical education in India In 1919, he met the Bengali yog in, Paramahamsa Madhavdasji, who had settled at Malsar, near Baroda, on the banks of the Narmada river. The insight into Yogic discipline, under the guidance of Madhavdasji, greatly influenced Kuvalayananda's career. In 1924, Kuvalayananda founded the Kaivalyadhama Health and Yoga Research Center in Lonavla in order to provide a laboratory for his scientific study of Yoga.
Born: August 30, 1883, Dabhoi, Gujarat, India
Died: April 18, 1966 (aged 82) Lonavla, Maharashtra, India
Nationality: Indian
Occupation: Scientific Researcher, Teacher, Yogi
Sri Om Prakash Tiwari was born in North India in 1933. As the direct student and disciple of the late Swami Kuvalayananda and founder of Kaivalyadhama Institute in Lonavala, India, he is one of the few remaining Hatha Yoga Masters in the world.
Swami Kuvalayananda gave him the responsibility of managing the Nature Cure Hospital at Kavailyadhama, and later in 1966, he was entrusted with the entire institute, serving as Secretary General, overseeing areas of education and administration.
He has also served on several government committees, working to bring Yoga into the education and health system of India, and recently created an Encyclopedia of Yoga for the Indian government.
He has also been teaching and guiding students for over 40 years, specializing in Yoga Therapy, Philosophy, and Classical Yoga Techniques.
