Biography of Swami Tapovan Maharaj

(1889 - 1957)

A rare jewel in the crown of the Himalayan peaks, Swami Tapovan was revered and exclaimed as the greatest of Sanyasi and a man of total perfection. Swami Tapovan was born in 1889 in an aristocratic family in the Palghat district and from a very tender age he was not at all interested in the worldly life. The life of renunciation, austerity and study became the only sacred aim of his life. Later, he choose the desolate forests and higher hills of the Himalayas for his austerity, study and meditation.

He was well versed with the scriptures. As a poet, he possessed a passion for witnessing the canvas of nature's beauty unrolling itself in the unfrequented peaks and valleys of the Himalayas. He had penned his experience of his travels in two splendid volumes 'Himagiri Viharam' and "Kailash Yatra'. His masterpiece work is 'Iswara Darshan', which is an autobiographical sketch of his life. His another beautiful book is ‘Wandering in the Himalayas'. In 1957, Swami Tapovan Maharaj went into 'Mahasamadahi' (death).