Founder & Spiritual Director, Bodhidham
Swami Ananda, lovingly known as Swami G, is revered by his students and associates as a dedicated practitioner and teacher of yoga and spirituality. His life has been shaped by a lifelong longing to understand the deeper truth of existence, a journey that began in childhood and gradually led him into the sacred traditions of yoga, Vedanta, meditation, and spiritual practice.
Born into a humble family with a lineage of Vedic scholarship, Swami G grew up surrounded by an atmosphere in which spirituality, the Vedic scriptures, and the pursuit of knowledge were deeply respected. His forefathers had dedicated themselves to studying and practicing the teachings of the Vedas and sharing that wisdom with sincere aspirants.
Yet, for Swami G, the search for truth was not simply something inherited from his family. From a very young age, it arose as a profound inner calling.
A Child in Search of Truth
As a young boy, Swami G was naturally curious, energetic, and deeply drawn toward knowledge. His father’s library became a doorway to an entirely different world. Among its many books were works on spirituality and numerous other subjects, and he would spend hours immersed in their pages.
For him, reading was more than a pastime. It was a way of stepping beyond the limitations of ordinary life and exploring questions that stirred something deeper within him.
He also loved writing poetry, collecting coins and stamps, and wandering alone in nature. Whenever he could quietly escape from home, he would visit Buddhist monasteries, walk along riverbanks, or simply wander in solitude.
Even as a child, there seemed to be an inner world calling him toward something beyond the familiar.
By the age of twelve, this inner calling had become unmistakable.
He expressed to his parents his desire to live with spiritual masters and dedicate himself to the path of enlightenment. It was an extraordinary wish for such a young child, but eventually he was able to convince his parents to allow him to travel to Haridwar, one of the great spiritual centres of North India and a place where generations of yogis, saints, and sages have pursued the realization of the Divine.
His journey had begun.
Meeting His First Master
In Haridwar, destiny brought Swami G into the presence of his first master, Swami Yoganand Saraswati.
Swami Yoganand was a monk of the Hatha Yoga tradition and a highly educated spiritual practitioner who had studied in Varanasi and earned a master’s degree from Banaras Hindu University. Although Swami G had come to the ashram with a burning desire for spiritual knowledge, his master understood that the young seeker also needed a strong foundation in worldly education.
He therefore encouraged Swami G to continue his formal studies.
The wisdom of this guidance would become increasingly meaningful as Swami G’s journey unfolded. His master wanted him not only to experience spirituality but also to understand the world in which he would eventually share that wisdom.
Swami Yoganand himself had been deeply influenced by the spiritual atmosphere of Varanasi, a city renowned for its ancient traditions of knowledge, devotion, yoga, and asceticism. He had spent much of his early life in the company of saints and spiritual practitioners.
He was well versed in Sanskrit mantras, traditional forms of worship, and sacred spiritual practices. During his school and college years, whenever he had the opportunity, he sought the company of accomplished yogis and engaged them in discussions about spiritual questions.
These encounters left a deep impression on him and strengthened his own inclination toward the life of an ascetic.
Later, after working for several years as a newspaper editor, Swami Yoganand left his profession and entered the life of renunciation under the guidance of his Guru, Swami Vishnu Devananda Saraswati, in Allahabad. Swami Yoganand had spent years receiving training and serving under his master.
Eventually, he established his own ashram in Haridwar with the support of his devotees. There, he dedicated himself to guiding seekers and transmitting the traditional teachings and practices of Hatha Yoga.
It was in this sacred environment that the young Swami G began to receive his own spiritual training.
The Guru-Disciple Journey
When Swami G met Swami Yoganand, his master accepted him as a disciple almost immediately. Their connection felt deeply familiar—as though their meeting belonged to a relationship that had begun long before that particular moment.
Swami Yoganand treated the young disciple with extraordinary affection and care, almost like a mother caring for her child. At the same time, he remained committed to preparing him for a life of spiritual responsibility.
After receiving initiation into the yogic tradition, Swami G’s formal spiritual training began.
For years, his Guru patiently guided him through the sacred science of yoga and spirituality. The teachings he received belonged to a living tradition preserved and transmitted through generations.
For Swami G, this period was not merely an education. It was the beginning of a transformation.
The relationship between Guru and disciple became the foundation upon which the rest of his spiritual journey would unfold.
The Call of Vedanta
After completing his initial training under Swami Yoganand, Swami G developed a deep interest in Vedanta—the philosophical inquiry into the nature of the Self and ultimate reality.
His Guru encouraged this aspiration and agreed to send him elsewhere for further study.
Swami G travelled to Himachal Pradesh, where he spent a year at a Vedanta institution near Dharamshala. There, surrounded by the mountains and natural beauty of the Himalayas, he studied the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and other Vedantic texts under the guidance of scholars and saints associated with the institution established by Swami Chinmayananda.
His journey was expanding.
The teachings of Hatha Yoga had introduced him to the discipline of the body and breath. Vedanta opened another dimension—the inquiry into consciousness, existence, and the nature of the Self.
Yet the journey was not complete.
Entering the Himalayan Tradition
After completing his study of Vedanta, Swami G was called to Rishikesh to continue his education in Raja Yoga, the higher path of meditative and spiritual discipline.
He entered the internationally renowned Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama, an institution associated with the Himalayan Tradition and a lineage that regards itself as carrying an ancient and unbroken stream of yogic wisdom.
Students came there from different parts of the world, drawn by the opportunity to study the deeper dimensions of yoga and meditation.
Swami G completed the entrance examination and interview process and was selected for systematic training in Raja Yoga within this tradition.
There he came under the guidance of Swami Veda Bharati, whom he regarded as one of the rare spiritual masters of his time.
For three years, Swami G immersed himself in the study and practice of higher yoga and spirituality.
He not only studied but also served.
He assisted new students, guided meditation sessions, and gradually took on greater responsibilities within the Gurukulam. After his first year, his master entrusted him with teaching meditation and other classes to newcomers and visitors.
This responsibility was itself part of his training.
He was learning that spiritual knowledge is not merely something to be accumulated. It is something to be lived, embodied, and eventually shared.
Under the guidance of his master and senior teachers, he received specialized training in meditation and spiritual philosophy rooted in the Himalayan lineage.
Swami G was also initiated into the path of kriya yoga, the higher path of Raja yoga, which comes from MAHAVATAR BABAJI and was spread around the world by beloved Guru Paramhamsa Yogananda.
Into the Silence of the Himalayas
After three years of study and practice, Swami G felt an even deeper call toward solitude.
He approached his master and asked permission to travel into the higher regions of the Indian Himalayas to undertake more intense spiritual practice.
His master gave his approval.
Swami G began with a forty-one-day period of silence.
He then continued his spiritual practices in different Himalayan regions, including Lansdowne, Uttarkashi, Badrinath, and Gangotri.
Away from the noise and distractions of ordinary life, he devoted himself to meditation, introspection, and disciplined spiritual practice.
The mountains became not merely a physical landscape but a place of inner pilgrimage.
A Year of Solitude in Nepal
In 2010, another significant chapter opened in Swami G’s journey when he was invited to stay in Nepal for his spiritual pursuit.
He accepted the invitation and travelled to jungle, near Pokhara.
There, he built a simple bamboo cottage and spent a year deepening his spiritual practice. He emphasized meditation, took one meal a day, minimized contact with the public, and embraced solitude.
It was a period of withdrawal from the outer world and deeper immersion in the inner journey.
After a year of secluded practice, his Gurukulam master called him back to Rishikesh to attend a spiritual discourse.
During this meeting, his master gave him an instruction that would change the direction of his life: It was time to share what he had received.
The wisdom that had been entrusted to him through years of study, practice, discipline, and guidance was no longer meant to remain only within his personal journey. He was asked to make it available to sincere seekers who were searching for truth and relief from the suffering of life.
Swami G then returned to Haridwar to seek the blessings of his first master, Swami Yoganand Saraswati. His first Guru gave him the same encouragement: it was time to begin sharing the sacred science of liberation with sincere and appropriate aspirants.
Two masters. One direction.
The search that had begun in childhood was now becoming a service to others.
From Seeker to Teacher
Swami G accepted the instructions of his masters as a serious responsibility. He resolved to dedicate his life to helping awaken human beings who crossed his path.
Although he had already taught yoga occasionally through retreats, camps, workshops, and other invitations, he now approached teaching with a deeper sense of purpose.
It was no longer simply something he did.
It had become his mission.
Before dedicating himself fully to teaching, he continued to strengthen his professional and academic foundation. He completed a Doctor of Naturopathy program at Arogya Mandir in Gorakhpur and an advanced acupressure course in Allahabad, India.
He also earned both a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Yoga Science from SVYASA University in Bangalore, India.
A Decade of Teaching and Practice
In 2012, Swami G moved to Bangalore and began teaching people from many different walks of life.
His students came with different aspirations and different reasons for approaching yoga. Some sought physical well-being, while others were drawn toward meditation, inner transformation, and spiritual understanding.
Over the following years, Swami G taught yoga in schools, communities, religious institutions, corporations, events, and yoga studios.
For approximately a decade, he balanced two commitments: teaching the public and continuing his own spiritual practice.
He continued to walk the path of the student even while becoming a teacher.
During his years in Bangalore, another important dimension of his spiritual journey unfolded through his introduction to the Shakti Tradition, in which the Divine Mother is revered as the manifested power of Supreme Reality.
Through contact with advanced spiritual practitioners and seekers, he was introduced to deeper spiritual practices and received initiation into esoteric practices of the Shakti tradition.
The love, guidance, and blessings he received from these spiritual companions strengthened his commitment to his own practice and helped him remain focused on the path.
The Call to Return to Nepal
Throughout this period, Swami G’s spiritual mentor from Nepal repeatedly encouraged him to return to Nepal.
The invitation was not simply to relocate.
It was to serve.
His mentor envisioned Nepal as the place where Swami G could continue his own journey of self-discovery while establishing a space dedicated to authentic yoga and meditation—a place where traditional teachings could be preserved and offered to sincere seekers.
Nepal held a special significance in this vision.
For centuries, the Himalayan region has been associated with yogis, Siddhas, sages, meditation, Tantra, and spiritual pilgrimage. Its mountains and forests have provided a natural environment for those seeking solitude and deeper spiritual practice.
For Swami G, returning to Nepal therefore represented more than a geographical move.
It was a return to a sacred landscape and the beginning of a new chapter of service.
The Birth of Bodhidham
Swami G humbly accepted his mentor’s guidance and began preparing to relocate to Nepal.
Many friends, students, and close associates welcomed his decision and offered their support.
With the support of well-wishers, he established the Nepal chapter of Bodhidham at the beginning of 2022.
The vision of Bodhidham, however, had begun much earlier.
Bodhidham was founded in 2013 while Swami G was still in India. During those years, he had been developing the vision and blueprint for an institution that could serve as a vehicle for the timeless wisdom of the yogic tradition.
Bodhidham was born from a simple yet profound aspiration:
To preserve and share yoga as a path of spiritual awakening and self-transformation in its authentic form.
The intention was not to dilute yoga or reduce it to merely a physical practice, but to allow sincere seekers to experience its deeper dimensions.
A Place for the Sincere Seeker
The ashram was initially established in Lakeside, Pokhara, Nepal.
Later, it moved toward the lap of the sacred mountain Machhapuchhre, within the Annapurna range.
Here, surrounded by the majesty and silence of the Himalayas, Swami G and his team continue to work toward giving form to the vision that has been developing throughout his life.
Bodhidham is not simply the result of a single idea.
It represents the culmination of a journey that began with a curious child searching for answers in his father’s library.
It grew through the love and guidance of Gurus.
It was tested through years of discipline, study, silence, solitude, meditation, and service.
It was deepened through the study of Hatha Yoga, Vedanta, Raja Yoga, meditation, and the Shakti tradition.
And eventually, it became a vision to serve others.
A Journey That Continues
The story of Swami G is, ultimately, a story of an unanswered question becoming a lifelong journey.
A child asked: What is the truth?
A seeker travelled to the Himalayas in search of an answer.
A disciple surrendered himself to the guidance of his masters.
A practitioner spent years in study, meditation, silence, and solitude.
A teacher was asked to share what he had received.
And a vision gradually took shape in the form of Bodhidham.
Today, Swami G and his team continue to work toward creating a space where sincere seekers can step away from the noise of everyday life, turn inward, and rediscover the ancient possibility of transformation through yoga and meditation.
The journey that began many years ago is still unfolding.
The search continues.
The practice continues.
The teaching continues.
And the vision of Bodhidham continues to grow—with the aspiration that the timeless wisdom of yoga may become a living source of awakening, clarity, and transformation for all sincere seekers who come seeking the truth.