Swami Chidbhavananda (March 11, 1898 – November 16, 1985) was born in Senguttaipalayam near Pollachi in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India. His parents named him ‘Chinnu’. He studied at Stanes School, Coimbatore. He was one of the two Indians in his class, the rest being British. His parents wanted him to go to England after completing his degree in Presidency College, Chennai.
While making arrangements for his travel abroad, he came across a book about Swami Vivekananda’s philosophy. The book had a profound impact on his mind. He used to visit Ramakrishna Matt in Mylapore often and had discussions with Swamiji. Finally, he decided to become a sannyasi and went to Ramakrishna Mission in Belur, West Bengal. His guru was Swami Sivananda who was a direct disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
As per the wish and advice of Swami Sivananda, he returned to Tamil Nadu and established an Ashram near Ooty. In the early forties (1942), he established the Ramakrishna Tapovanam in Thirupparaithurai, Trichy district. Since then, Tapovanam has established several educational institutions in Tamil Nadu and propagates the ideals of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda through religious and social activities such as book publishing.
Swami Chidbhavananda has authored more than a hundred books in Tamil and English. His books address a variety of topics ranging from deep philosophical inquiry to contemporary social life.
He has written a lot of dramas based on ancient Hindu scriptures that are performed by Students. His commentary on the Gita in English and Tamil has been praised. Swami died in 1985.