After initiating Jnana Yagnas, for the second step in Cultural Revival, Swami Chinmayananda wanted full-time, well-educated trained teachers, without worldly ambitions - brave and courageous - who are willing to live a life of surrender to the Divine through service of mankind. Thus he conceived of the idea of Sandeepany Sadhanalayas in 1955. He wanted Vedanta to reach the masses, to bring about a cultural revival. Hence he established Sandeepany Sadhanalaya - A Premier Institute of Vedanta, to produce Hindu Missionaries.
Need for Sandeepany & Vision:
“What we need is more spiritual teachers. The message of the Upanishads is to be interpreted, taught and broadcast - carried from door to door.
We want an army of Vivekanandas all over the country. The problems are so severe that they can no longer be remedied by even a handful of persons. Thus, I have to start many training centers, and our hopes are that all of them will bring forth true Vivekanandas.”
The land for this noble purpose was donated by Smt.Tara Sarup. On January 19, 1960, the Tara Cultural Trust was registered.
The first Sandeepany came to light in Powai, Mumbai on 9th January 1963.
Sandeepany Sadhanalaya - The Journey So Far
Swami Chinmayananda was the first Acharya of Sandeepany. 30 students together hoisted a flag with a large OM to symbolise the rejuvenation of the Sanatana Dharma. Swamiji said - “Look, I have not hoisted the flag, it was you. Now it is up to you to keep the flag flying”
The first curve depicts the vision of Sandeepany along with its formation and also contains a few pictures that give a glimpse of the journey from the first batch to the 15th batch of Vedanta Course at Powai.
The logo of Sandeepany has inspired the 3 installations in the form of flames, A Swan and Lotus petals. Some of the features of Sandeepany are depicted in the flame installation.
As you walk through the flame-opening, the 2nd Curve of Sandeepany shows the Guru-Parampara and lists various Acharyas who have taught at Sandeepany .
Need for Sandeepany & Vision:
“A Nation has no future without its connection with its past. We can draw our inspiration, our necessary strength, vitality and beauty only from our traditions. Therefore, the awakening of the consciousness of the populace to the sacred past is to be accomplished now. It is not such a difficult task at all, even though alien missionaries and governments have been trying for the past 200 years to break us away from our culture. Now the independent country is atheist and anxious for an ideal. Indeed the people are very receptive.
To create a strong army of spiritually enlightened soldiers, who would march out in the world with dashing courage, and speak words of divine enthusiasm for others to emulate.”
Swami Chinmayananda’s Talk at Sandeepany Inauguration
“When the entire nation is to engage in war-effort, when all our resources and energies are to be directed to face the Himalayan danger, is this the occasion to launch a programme for cultural revival? Can’t this wait for a happier climate?” one may ask. Certainly i would wait, keeping my fingers crossed for a more conducive National climate if I were to launch the programme. But then I am only an instrument in His hands and He has chosen to clique in the event just now.
When i was all anxiety to start the Sadhanalaya as early as in the year 1957, all i got was nothing save a few knocks of disappointment. And in sheer despair I shed my anxiety, letting Lord Narayana to shape things in His own inscrutable ways.
In the years followed, men volunteered, money poured, the Sadhanalaya sprang up, and He is working out His will right. If He has chosen the present veil of sadness to serve as a fit back-ground for the inauguration of this institution, dedicated to live and spread His own glories, there lies indeed a meaning in His move.
I for one think that the sacred event is coming off not one day too soon. Our Nation is in danger, much more our National Dharma. A break-up of National Dharma shall reduce a ‘people’ into a mere ‘population’ of teeming millions. and ‘Population’ can be conquered and stamped out of recognition by sheer brute force and engines of destruction; but not so a “people” who have a common Dharma to hold them together, to guide them, to inspire them.
The “people” lose their solidarity and integration when the web of culture, Dharma, into which they are so inseparably woven is shattered. If we, as a Nation, are to live, then our National Culture is to be safe-guarded, is to be held aloft, as a beacon to guide and inspire us forever.
Maharshi Sandeepany was one such son of Mother Bhaarat, who in those days of yore, in his own unique way conducted a holy university to impart and thus spread the Divine Knowledge and Culture that he himself learnt and imbibed from his Gurus. The same Rishi-spirit has been flowing down the ages of our history, achieving glorious results through Shankara, Ramanuja, Madwa and other Acharyas.
This Sadhanalaya named after that great Rishi Sandeepany, stands for the revival of our glorious culture, a culture that will run as a golden chord, binding us all as one people of Divine nobility and spiritual brotherhood.
Inspite of our number, as a mere ‘population’ we will be wiped out beyond all recognition, but as a ‘people’ with a deep mooring in our Divine Culture, Sanatana Dharma, we will be not merely a formidable force on this earth, but a force that will command respect, reverence and more than that, a force for all ‘peoples’ to draw inspiration from.
Himalayas are weaker than the Himalayan Culture that is ours. The mighty mountains in the North are no barrier when the Chinese dragon is hungry and desperate. It is only the tremendous forces of strength that can be released from a people when anchored in the Himalayan Culture, must win for us our National freedom and social progress. When the entire Nation is plunged into the holy Yagna of ‘War-effort’, Lord Narayana hastens to launch this programme of training His messengers that will release in time the potential Divine force of our Motherland. The far-sighted will not in impatience send out an untrained crowd to help the soldiers in the front line. We too shall train our spiritual soldiers for full six years before marching them out to fight the forces of inner disintegration.
Sandeepany Sadhanalaya is therefore one of the projects of National Emergency and its success depends upon the grace of Narayana showering through every one of you. This is our belief, our faith.”
Swami Chinmayananda was the first Acharya of Sandeepany. 30 students together hoisted a flag with a large OM to symbolise the rejuvenation of the Sanatana Dharma. Swamiji said - “Look, I have not hoisted the flag, it was you. Now it is up to you to keep the flag flying”
The first batch started with 35 students - sixteen survived the gruelling five years. Four stayed on to work as missionaries for Chinmaya Mission. The senior acharyas who graduated from the first batch of 35 disciples.
Swamini Gangananda
Swami Purushottamananda
Swamini Sharadapriyananda
Swami Jyotirmayananda
Swami Chinmayanananda’s disciples became Acharyas of more than 50 successive Vedanta Courses in 10 Sandeepany Sadhanalayas, with more than 1000 full time students graduating in 50 years.
The first curve depicts the vision of Sandeepany along with its formation and also contains a few pictures that give a glimpse of the journey from the first batch to the 15th batch of Vedanta Course at Powai.
The logo of Sandeepany has inspired the 3 installations in the form of flames, A Swan and Lotus petals. Some of the features of Sandeepany are depicted in the flame installation.
Sandeepany Sadhanalaya - The Journey So Far
Swami Chinmayananda was the first Acharya of Sandeepany. 30 students together hoisted a flag with a large OM to symbolise the rejuvenation of the Sanatana Dharma. Swamiji said - “Look, I have not hoisted the flag, it was you. Now it is up to you to keep the flag flying”
The first batch started with 35 students - sixteen survived the gruelling five years. Four stayed on to work as missionaries for Chinmaya Mission. The senior acharyas who graduated from the first batch of 35 disciples.
Swamini Gangananda
Swami Purushottamananda
Swamini Sharadapriyananda
Swami Jyotirmayananda
Swami Chinmayanananda’s disciples became Acharyas of more than 50 successive Vedanta Courses in 10 Sandeepany Sadhanalayas, with more than 1000 full time students graduating in 50 years.
The first curve depicts the vision of Sandeepany along with its formation and also contains a few pictures that give a glimpse of the journey from the first batch to the 15th batch of Vedanta Course at Powai.
The logo of Sandeepany has inspired the 3 installations in the form of flames, A Swan and Lotus petals. Some of the features of Sandeepany are depicted in the flame installation.
Symbolism of the Sandeepany Logo
This symbol of the Sandeepany Sadhanalaya integrates books, a lit oil lamp, a hamsa bird, and a blossomed lotus.
The books represent the prasthana traya, or the three scriptures which are the foundation of the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta: the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and Shrimad Bhagawad Gita.
The lamp symbolises knowledge that translates into wisdom fuelled by the oil of the ethical, dharmic life, needed for inner spiritual growth.
The hamsa, a sacred bird in Hindu mythology that drinks only the milk from a mixture of milk and water, represents the discriminative faculty each spiritual aspirant must develop to see the Reality behind this changing world of names and forms.
The blossoming lotus, India's national flower, symbolizes the final goal of human life and the art of living harmoniously in the world. The lotus depicts the flowering and unfolding of one's innate inner beauty, while being in the world but not ‘of’ the world.
Design Notes
Sandeepany Sadhanalaya - Vision & Features
The exhibit is designed as a walk-through installation. It is derived from three key aspects of the Sandeepany Sadhanalaya logo which are; a lamp, a swan and a lotus. The three sub-sections are represented through these three aspects of the logo. Each sub-section is a combination of a visual montage panel and an installation form. The first sub-section presents the vision of the institution through a visual montage panel. The flame of the lamp in a stylized form is used for the installation, which highlights the institutes’ main features.