Vishwadevanand Puri

Swami Vishwadevanand Puri (26 January 19467 May 2013) was a Hindu monk and a traditional teacher of Advaita Vedanta. He founded the Vishwakalyan Foundation Trust (Shri Yantra Mandir) in Haridwar.

Education With the permission of Swami Aulanand Ji Maharaj, Puri studied at the ashram in Ellis Bridge, Ahmedabad. He studied the systems of Nyaya, Bhagwat and Vedanta, and grammar and philosophy with Param Guru Acharya Mahamandaleshwar Nirvana Pithadhishvar Swami Krishnanand Ji Maharaj Shri.

Mahanirvani Akhada An organization of sadhus, the Shri Panchayati Akhara Mahanirvani, honored Puri in 1985 at the Haridwar Kumbh Mela. He was then elected Acharya Mahamandaleshwar (leader) of the Shri Panchayati Akhara Mahanirvan). As leader of the akhara, he chaired ashrams in Haridwar, Varanasi, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad. Puri established the world's first stone Shri Yantra temple in Kankhal, Haridwar, Uttarakhand. His best-known disciple is Anantbodh Chaitanya from Panipat, Haryana, who was initiated on 13 April 2005 at the Sanyas ashram. Puri appointed Australian swami Jasraj Puri as a mahamandaleshwar in the Mahanirvani Akhada.

Aastha TV produced a documentary about Puri. He has initiated many Nagas at the Mahanirvani Akhada as an acharya. Brahamlin Swami Martand Puri received diksha from Puri, and was appointed a mahamandaleshwar by him. Swami Nityanand was also appointed a mahamandleshwar by Puri.

Activities Puri delivered religious discourses for thirty years. He attracted large audiences in India, and toured outside the country. Puri's lectures covered the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavatam, Puranas, Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana and other Eastern and Western philosophies, and he quoted the scriptures of other religions. He taught a simple, straightforward way of God-realization which could be practiced by anyone. Puri was a member of the Vishva Hindu Parishad. and Lal Krishna Advani visited Sanyas Ashram in Vile Parle and met Puri on Vijayadashami (31 October 2004) to premiere a film based on K. B. Hedgewar's life. Puri supported Ram Setu and Ram Mandir. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat visited Sanyas Ashram and met Puri. "He spent nearly 45 minutes here. We discussed religious affairs and ancient Indian traditions as well as issues like terrorism", Puri said.

Views on religious freedom Puri was a proponent of freedom of religion, saying that "religious harmony is closely dependent on the freedom each religion grants to the other."

Death Puji died in Haridwar on 7 May 2013 after a car accident while he was returning to his ashram from Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun.