About Swami Shivapadananda Puri

Overview

Swami Shivapadananda Puri was the second President and Spiritual Head of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, headquartered at the ashram in Avoca, Durban, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

Swamiji was the monastic disciple of Swami Nischalananda Puri, who attained mahasamadhi [passed on] in 1965. Gurudev, as we lovingly refer to him, had initiated Swamiji into the ancient order of sannyasa [Hindu monasticism] some time earlier.

It was on the night of Krishna Jayanti 1965, close to midnight, that Swamiji wore the gerua garb of a renunciate in the Avoca shrine, for the first time. He was aged just 26. Following a turbulent few years – which seems to be the sad norm for too many religious organisations globally, when the founder passes on – Swamiji grew the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa into a flourishing and influential organisation.