Bhagwan Nityananda Of Ganeshpuri

Bhagwan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri is one of the most revered Siddha Gurus of the modern times. Often called as Bhagwan or Avdhoot Baba Nityananda, Bade Baba, Swami Nityananda or Nityananda Bhagawan.

Who doesn’t know about Bhagwan Nityananda?

Bhagwan Nityananda and Ganeshpuri go side by side. ‘Ganeshpuri Niwasi Jagadguru Nityananda’ – The one residing in Ganeshpuri, Guru of the universe, Bhagwan Nityananda

Ganeshpuri is around 80 KMs North from current city of Mumbai. Till date, Ganeshpuri is revered as a divine pilgrimage by the spiritual seekers. It is visited by not just Indian travelers, but thousands of foreigners too.

If you are a spiritual seeker, then you must read about his life and stories, incase you haven’t.

There are numerous stories and experiences shared by devotees about his miracles for healings and guidance which are available on the internet too.

Birth of Bhagwan Nityananda

He was a born Siddha i.e. Janma Siddha (The one who is fully enlightened by birth and has already attained divine self-realization from birth). It is believed that Bhagwan Nityananda was an incarnate of Lord Shiva himself.

The details of his birth have always been mysterious and relatively unknown. According to his disciples, a lady named Uniamma Nair wife of Chathu Nair found Bhagwan Nityananda as an abandoned infant in Tuneri village, Kozhikode, Kerala, India in 1897. They adopted the infant form of Bhagwan Nityananda as their child and took care of him along with their own five children. He was named Raman by his foster parents.

The Nair couple were farmers, who also took care of the farms owned by a wealthy lawyer named Ishwar Iyer, who greatly trusted them. When he was three years old, his foster father died and his foster mother died, when he was six years old. Before dying she handed over responsibility of Bhagwan Nityananda to Ishwar Iyer

Spiritual Journey Of Bhagwan Nityananda

From early childhood Bhagwan Nityananda got his head clean shaved. On occasions, he wore the sanyasi ochre dress in his early life. Due to that, people had the belief that he was ordained in Nandapadma order of sanyasis. Although Bhagwan Nityananda was a born Siddha, but still he practised intense tapasaya to inspire the devotees.

In his young age like an innocent free child, Bhagwan Nityananda traveled aound Dharamsthala, Udipi, Mulki, Kanangarh, Gokarna and other places throughout India on foot.

He spent about 6 years in Himalayas. As a young boy he stayed in Kannangarh, where he was in Nirvikalpa Samadhi for a long time in a cave. As there was no water around; he created water stream from the cave which flows ever since that time. From that time the site is a pilgrimage site now called Guruvan.

As an enlightened master and miraculous healer ‘Siddhas’, he impacted millions of spiritual seekers with his wisdom and blessings. People were relieved of their anxieties, distress, illnesses and miseries by his grace. The devout were blessed but unbelieving people beat him, threw stones, tried to burn him or poison him. The effect of beating or burning or poisoning was suffered by them only and Bhagwan remained unperturbed.

Due to extreme respect and reverence, devotees started calling him as ‘Bhagwan’, the Lord, the great one. He always directed people to turn inward and meditate on the self.

Bhagwan Nityananda In Ganeshpuri

Eventually, by the mid 1930s, he settled in village of Ganeshpuri, near Tansa valley in the state of Maharashtra to fulfill his divine mission. The place where he used to live is named as Kailash Niwas and is a major attraction for devotees till today.

He used to remain deeply immersed in divine consciousness, with his eyes mostly closed and a graceful smile on his face. He would remain mostly in silence and speak very less. Sometimes he would answer an earnest seeker’s question with a few simple words, yet filled deep meaning.

With knowledge of Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Marathi he guided seekers in different paths according to their capacity. He never slept through the night and was wide awake during the day. Irrespective of all seasons and climates, he used to live in his white linen loin cloth. All devotees coming in his presence found peace and had a complete sense of satisfaction. The devotees would stand in long queue for hours in rain and sunshine for Darshan of their popular Baba or Bhagwan.

Bhagwan Nityananda used to love children a lot and would keep distributing food, fruits, clothes and toys to kids around him. Over a thousand children from nearby villages were given free morning meal in Balbhojan every day. The tradition of Balbhojan continues till date.

During his stay in Ganeshpuri, he undertook many philanthropic activities where he transformed the village by educating people, feeding, clothing and schooling the children. He also helped in getting roads and local facilities constructed along with the very first hospital in Ganeshpuri.

Bhagwan Nityananda Samadhi Mandir

On the evening of August 7, 1961, sometime after midnight Nityananda was reported to have said:

Everyone comes here for money and only money. The more they are given, the more they seek; there is no end to their greed. When they come they are pedestrians sometimes without a proper dwelling place; and when they get the necessities, then comforts and luxuries are demanded: a car, a bungalow, and so on. When earlier prayers are granted in the hope that contentment would follow and that they would then seek higher values, another demand is placed in a never-ending series of wants and desires. Not much point in allowing this body to continue— hence samadhi tomorrow.

He took Maha Samadhi on 8 August 1961 at age of 63. His samadhi is in Ganeshpuri village which is called Nityananda Samadhi Mandir. There is one more beautiful shrine temple dedicated to Bhagwan Nityananda in the Gurudev Siddha Peeth ashram at Ganeshpuri.

Bhagwan Nityananda Main Teaching

Bhagwan Nityananda’s main teaching was:

The Heart is the hub of sacred places. Go there and roam.

Bhagwan Nityananda would speak about the importance of a Guru in one’s life, one’s spiritual journey which can be read in his Chidakash Gita

Recommended Read – Details about Bhagwan Nityananda’s life, journey, stories and miracles