Swami Swahananda passes away
Swami Swahananda, a Bangladeshi-born highly revered spiritual leader in the United States, died from a stroke at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center on October 19, Los Angeles Times reported yesterday. He was 91. He was a spiritual leader of the Vedanta Society of Southern California and previously headed the Hindu religious organisation's branch in Berkeley. Swahananda, son of Nirmal Chandra Goswami, was born on June 29, 1921 at a Habiganj village in Bangladesh. He acquired a BA degree from Murari Chand College in Sylhet in 1943 and a double MA degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Calcutta in 1946. Since 1976 he had led the Vedanta Society of Southern California, which has its headquarters at a temple in Hollywood and is affiliated with Ramakrishna Order of India. Swahananda, a senior monk of the order, was also known for his role in founding Vedanta centres around the US, including one outside Washington DC and another in upstate New York. As a leader of Vedanta's Southern California branch, Swahananda succeeded Swami Prabhavananda, who founded the Hollywood centre in 1930.
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