Acharyas

Mukhya Acharya
Swami Swaroopananda

The Global Head of Chinmaya Mission since 2017, Swami Swaroopananda guides and leads the organisation’s various Centres, projects and institutions.

After graduating from the Vedanta Course at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai, in 1986, he has maintained a busy global teaching schedule in Australia, Hong Kong, other parts of the Far East, the UK, India, the U.A.E., Africa and the USA.

In addition to teaching Vedanta, he has led the Chinmaya International Residential School in Coimbatore as Director since 2005, nurturing it to become a leading school in India. He is currently leading development of Chinmaya Mission’s innovative tertiary institution, Chinmaya Vishwa Vidyapeeth in Kerala, as Chancellor.

Swami Swaroopananda is a frequent speaker at prestigious universities and has conducted numerous spiritual management seminars for executives of major corporations. His books on life management are very popular, connecting Sanatana Dharma to everyday life and business success.

Resident Acharya
Swami Advayananda

Inspired by the teachings of the visionary saint Swami Chinmayananda, a young seeker joined Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai, as a student, in 1990. In 1993, on completing the Vedanta Course, he was ordained into dedicated spiritual life by Swami Chinmayananda. Later, in 2003, he was initiated into the sacred order of sannyasa by Swami Tejomayananda, and given the name Swami Advayananda. Presently, he is serving as the President of Chinmaya International Foundation (CIF) and as a Trustee of Chinmaya Vishwa Vidyapeeth (CVV).

After initially serving Chinmaya Mission Centres at Kodaikanal and Trichy in Tamilnadu, he guided the spiritual and cultural education at Chinmaya International Residential School (CIRS), Coimbatore, from 1996 to 2000. Thereafter, in the year 2000, he became an Acharya of Sandeepany Vidyamandir at Coimbatore, and conducted a Vedanta Course in Tamil–English.

Since 2003, Swami Advayananda has been serving at CIF. Between 2011 and 2013, he was the Acharya for the 15th Vedanta Course at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai. He also served as the Acharya of the one-year residential Vedanta Sadhaka Course at CIF in 2021-2022.

Upa-Acharya
Brahmachari Mukunda Chaitanya

Br. Mukunda Chaitanya is a devotional poet. From a young age, he was curious about spirituality which ultimately led him to enroll in the Yoga Vedanta Course in the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh in 2010. Mukundaji was profoundly inspired by the teachings of Swami Sivananda. He then joined the Sandeepany Vedanta Course in 2011 and received Brahmacharya Deeksha on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi in 2013.

From 2013 to 2023 Mukundaji served in the Calicut and Ottapalam Chinmaya Mission Centres in Kerala. During this time he conducted numerous Bhagavata Saptahas, Bhagavad Gita Jnana Yajnas and other spiritual classes throughout Kerala. He also led many spiritual retreats and pilgrimages for Chinmaya Mission devotees. In 2015, during Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda’s birth centenary, he coordinated the Chinmaya Jyoti Yatra in Kerala.

Even being immersed in these commitments, Mukundaji’s love for Sanskrit inspired him to complete his Masters in Sanskrit from Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, Tirupati, in 2018.