Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas

Our Ashram has all the circumstances, conditions, facilities required for development of Bhakti, rendering intensive selfless service and realisation of God in daily life. All Ashramites' activities have only one aim: God-experience. The running of schools is only one among the many forms of selfless service they render.

In our Ashram Pujas go on day in and day out. We run temples. We print and distribute spiritual literature. We have our meditation classes, Bhajans, Yajnas, and individuals have their individual spiritual practices, apart from the general spiritual activities of the Ashram.

Every speck of dust, every rock, every tree of the actual dwellings of Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas and beyond is vibrant with the glow of Swami Omkarananda's spiritual realisations and bears silent witness to this incomparable Sage, his Wisdom and Purity and his uninterrupted experience and adoration of the Divine Presence in all beings and in all things.

Only Indians and Indian citizens of Western European lands are living in the Ashram here: they are all Sannyasis and spiritual aspirants. All of them are highly educated and specialised in various educational and engineering fields. They are all direct disciples of Swami Omkarananda and have been with him since the late 1960s.

Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda Saraswati is a monastic disciple of His Divinity Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati.

He became after his schooling an Electronics Engineer and later started a career as a Pilot.

At the age of 21 Swami Vishveshwarananda was attracted and greatly influenced by the teachings of Shri Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati and became his disciple.

With the wish to uplift the underprivileged of the Garhwal Himalayas in the field of Education, Shri Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati sent Swami Vishveshwarananda to the Himalayas, Rishikesh, Muni-ki-reti.

By the Blessings of his Gurudev Shri Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati, Swami Vishveshwaranandaji could establish within a short time over 74 educational, cultural, social and spiritual Institutions in Uttarakhand, Garhwal Himalayas, out of which are the Omkarananda Saraswati Govt. Degree College Deoprayag, the Omkarananda Saraswati Nilayam Inter-College with 2500 students, affiliated to ICSE New Delhi, 43 Omkarananda Hill Schools (Basic Schools, Junior High Schools and Inter-Colleges) in very remote Himalayan Hill areas, the Omkarananda Institute of Management and Technology, approved by AICTE New Delhi and affiliated to Uttarakhand Technical University Dehradun, to H.N. Bahuguna Garhwal University Shrinagar, to Shri Dev Suman Uttarakhand University, as well as to the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) New Delhi, the Omkarananda Ashram's Gurukul, Omkarananda Gayatri Ved Vidyalaya, at the holy Ganga, an Institute for Indian Classical Dance and Music, Omkarananda Saraswati Natya Kala Academy, a Student's Sanskrit Library, Public Libraries, the Omkarananda Govt. Homoeopathic Hospital, several Dharmashalas and 18 beautiful Temples in and near the Headquarters of Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas, Omkarananda Nagar, Muni-ki-reti, Rishikesh.

On 28th October 1987 - thanks to the efforts of Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda Saraswati - His Excellency, the Honourable Governor of Uttar Pradesh, officially named the road on the hilly part of Muni-ki-reti up to Tapovan as "Swami Omkarananda Saraswati Road", in recognition of Swami Omkarananda's outstanding services in the field of Education in the area of the Garhwal Himalayas.

Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda was specially honoured by the Government of India for his great contributions in the educational field, on the occasion of Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Independence Day, on 15th August 1998.

In December 1999, the Sadhu Communities of Haridwar and Rishikesh initiated him as the Mahant of Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas with the traditional ritual and by offering the symbolic Caadar ("Shawl of Honour").

On 25th December 2005 Swami Vishveshwarananda was honoured with the prestigious "Pride of Uttaranchal Award" by the Doon Citizens Council, Dehradun, for his outstanding contribution in the field of Education.

For his distinguished Services in the Field of Education Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda was awarded by the Independent Schools Federation of India, on 14th February 2006, in New Delhi. The Award was presented by Shri Arjun Singh, Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

On 20th October 2008 Swami Vishveshwarananda was honoured with the "Rashtra Shakti Award" by Star Charities and International Human Rights Foundation, at Breach Candy, Mumbai, during a Symposium on World Peace, where he was the Main Speaker.

On 13th May 2019 Mahant Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda Saraswati was honoured with the "Shiksha Shiromani Award" for Excellence in the field of Education and Vedic Culture, by the Senior Citizen Welfare Organization (Reg.), Rishikesh.

In a grand Function, on 5th March 2020, the Senior Citizens of Rishikesh honoured Mahant Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda Saraswati with the prestigious "Vedic-Rishi-Ratna Award".

On the holy Occasion of Omkarananda Jayanti Celebrations, on 25th December 2020, the Senior Citizens of Rishikesh expressed their heartfelt and deep Affection and Admiration for Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda and his selfless works, by honouring him with the "Lifetime Achievement Award".

Because of his hard work, dedication and selfless service, Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda Saraswati was chosen by Gurudev, His Divinity Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati, as His Successor.

Following are Shri Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati's own words about Swami Vishveshwarananda:

"Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda Saraswati. His name signifies the Happiness of Lord Shiva Vishwanatha of Varanasi, of Sivananda Ashram's Vishwanatha Temple and of Omkarananda Ashram's Dipeshwara Temple. He is an Akhanda Brahmachari, one who has embodied in himself from childhood and youthhood unbroken principle of Brahmacharya. He has received Sannyasa Diksha from Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati. Pancha Tantra says, "He is not a Saint in truth, who is not a Saint in youth." Vishveshwarananda is a Karma Yogi by temper, character and choice and bears in his heart uncompromising and total Devotion to his Gurudev. From 1967 to 1982 he has rendered distinguishing services to Omkarananda's European Ashrams. In 1982 he was sent to Himalayas, Muni-ki-reti, Rishikesh. Within a short time he has created a large new field of activities - the Ashram Temples for the Sadhakas, schools for the students, and buildings for the resident Swamis, Teachers and Professors. In a hilly region, which is a world of Sadhus, Sannyasis and Mahatmas, he discovered education as the greatest need, and has been ably fulfilling this need much to the joy of over a thousand families. He is self-effacing and has no ambition to be the succeeding President from his present Vice-President Position. Yet from the standpoint of the institution, he is the Successor. Such is his Devotion to the Gurudev that he always wants to be Hanuman and not Lord Rama. He is not only Hanuman but also Bharata. With absolute physical absence of his other-worldly Mystic and Sage Sadgurudeva Omkarananda from the Ashram, since the last 30 years, Swami Vishveshwarananda has been, since he took up the Management of the Ashram, ruling the tiny kingdom of the Ashram just with Guru-Padukas on the Throne of the Ashram."  (Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati)

A team of Omkarananda Saraswati's monastic disciples, who are also members of the board of Omkarananda Trust Societies - Swami Satchidananda and Somashekhari (Somashekhari has also got Sannyasa-Diksha and is a monastic disciple, but has been ordered by Sadgurudeva Omkarananda to be in civil dress so long as she is the Director of Natyakala Academy and Sangit Samsthan and has to teach these arts to students and has to give public performances) - are greatly helping Swami Vishveshwarananda. In the spirit of the Veda Mantra, they are serving Sarva-Devata and the public as one Heart, one Mind, one Will. The Grace of Guru, Gayatri, Ganga, Gita, Tripurasundari is visibly operative in their lives.