Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Shantanand Saraswathi passes away

Principal Correspondent

COIMBATORE: Swami Shantanand Saraswathi, founder of the service-oriented, non-profit organisation Temple of Fine Arts (TFA) died in Coimbatore on Wednesday. He was 71.

Born at Tirukovilur village in South India on April 7, 1934, he sought spiritual guidance in his younger days from Swami Gnanananda Giri. When he was 14, he left home and became a follower of Swami Sivananda Saraswathi at Rishikesh in the foothills of the Himalayas.

After Sivananda's death in 1965, he left the ashram and travelled to several places in India. He arrived in Malaysia in 1971 and delivered discourses on the theme "`Love for God and service to fellow beings".

His followers referred to themselves as members of the Shiva Family.

In 1981, he started the Temple of Fine Arts where his devotees Shivdas and his wife Vatsala, Gopal Shetty and his wife Radha - all dance teachers - offered lessons in classical and folk dances, besides Indian music.

Now known as TFA International, the cultural organisation has centres in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru and Malacca), India (Chennai and Coimbatore), Australia (Perth), and Sri Lanka (Colombo).

As a tribute to Annalakshmi, the Goddess of Grains, Shantanand launched a restaurant chain by the same name, run by volunteers of the Shiva Family. With the motto of "Athithi Devo Bhava" (The guest is God), Annalakshmi restaurants offering vegetarian food have come up in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Singapore, Perth, Chennai and Coimbatore.

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