COURTESY:http://www.xomba.com/about_gnanananda_giri
After Mahasamadhi of his Guru, Swami Gnanananda Giri became the peetathipathi of Jyotir Mutt. Swamiji did not show any interest in Peeta & nominated Swami Ananda Giri, as his successor and started out to the high Himalayas for undertaking intense penance. Swami Gnanananda wandered high into the snow-covered mountains of Kashmir, Nepal and all over the Himalayan range & met several yogis. The sages of Himalayas performed rare kayakalp treatment to him & inserted special herb in to a vein of his fore arm. It is the obsolete method of preserving the body in health and vigor for more than 100 years for performing extreme spiritual penance in harsh climatic conditions at higher altitudes.
After long period of spiritual discipline, meditation and Samadhi, swami Gnanananda traveled extensively on foot, spanning the whole of India
, Tibet, Nepal, Burma and Sri Lanka. He stayed in the famous Shri Lankan Shrine of Kathirgamam for 60 years. In Tamilnadu itself sage had stayed for more than a hundred and seventy years in various places - Kalpattu, Kolli Malai hills, Polur etc
Return to Tamil Nadu
Finally, Sri gnanananda returned from travel & established ashrams at Attyampatti, Siddhilingamadam, and Dalmiapuram and at Yercaud (Pranavanilam). In 1940 Swamiji shifted to Siddhalinga Madam situated at about six miles from Thirukoilur on the southern bank of the river South Pennar. In 1951 the sage moved to Gnanananda Thapovanam on the northern bank of the river. He called the ashram an Adhyatma Vidyalaya. His teaching was pure Vedantha, the timeless message of the Upanishads.
In his ashram at Thapovanam, Swamiji constructed separate shrines for the deities of GnanaGanesa, GnanaSkanda, GnanaPurisa, GnanaAmbika, GnanaMahalakshmi, GnanaVenugopala, GnanaAnjayeya, GnanaBairava, Durga, Navagraha and Chandikeshwara. Swami gnananandagiri was well versed in all the modes of bhajana sampradaya. According to him the Hari Bhajana was the easiest way to attain `moksha. He had moved closely with spiritual gurus such as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Aurobindo, Seshadri Swami, Vallalar, Shudhananda Bharati and Ramana Maharshi.
Mahasamadhi of Great Guru
Sri Gnananandagiri attained Mahasamadhi in January 1974. As per his instructions he was laid to rest in a hexagon-shaped Samadhi chamber constructed by him a few years earlier. Even though Jeevanmukta has shed the limitations of the physical body, his presence in Videha Kaivalya has become all prevailing.