Sri Siddheshwar Swami

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sri Siddheshwar Swami

• Sri Siddheshwar Swami was an Indian spiritual leader who was the seer of the ashram Sri Jnanayogashrama of Vijayapura, Karnataka.

• Born into an ordinary farmer’s family in rural Karnataka, he attended a local school in his native village.

• Under the discipleship of Sri Mallikarjuna Swamiji, Siddheshwar accompanied him to places where he would preach, meanwhile continuing to pursue his formal education.

  

• Thereafter, he founded the ashram Jnanayogashrama in Vijayapura, Karnataka, where he spent his life until death.

• A polyglot, Siddheshwar Swami delivered religious speeches in Kannada, English, Marathi, Hindi, and Sanskrit.

• Sri Siddheshwar Swami has authored several books on the Upanishads, Gita, Sharana philosophy, and general spirituality during his lifetime. His literary works include Siddhanta Shikhamani, Allamaprabhu’s Vachana Nirvachana, and Bhagavad Chintana (Reflections of the Divine). He has also written books in English like God, World and Soul: Reflections on Saintly Sayings (Vachanas) (2021), Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (2020), Pravachan on Narada Bhakti Sutra and Shiva Sutra.

  

• In 2018, the Government of India decided to confer the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, on Sri Siddheshwar Swami, but he refused to accept it. He wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying,
  

  I don’t need titles, I am a sanyasi.”

• In 2023, his last rites were conducted on the Ashram premises as per his wishes which he had recorded on ‘Guru Purnima’ day of 2014. The Karnataka government through an official notification announced that it had decided to accord Swamiji a state funeral. Previously, Siddheshwar Swami had a fall at a devotee’s home and suffered multiple fractures, but he recovered fully.

• On 3 January 2022, his mortal remains was displayed in the ashram until 4:30 am for the public to pay their last respects, it was thereafter shifted to Sainik School premises for his devotees to pay their respects. Later, his mortal remains were brought back to the ashram for his last rites. Social media flooded with posts paying tribute to the Karnataka seer. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too paid his last respect via a tweet.