Himalayan hermit

The “Himalayan hermit” is Swami Yogeshwarananda Giri, who presently teaches the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, the Christian gospels, and meditation on occasional retreats. From his website:

He is a hermit monk of the Advaita Vedanta order of India, who has been living the contemplative life of a monk for the past 50 years. Often living in a cave during the summer at an altitude of 10,000 feet at Gangotri, near the source of the river Ganges.
Swami Yogeshwarananda has led a deeply contemplative life since the 1960s when he left home at the age of 22 to live a secluded life of a hermit. His early years were spent in a systematic study of the ancient Sanskrit scriptures, which was taught to him by other scholarly monks. He followed the tradition of monks, living an austere life in a hut at the foothills of the Himalayas on the banks of the sacred Ganges in Rishikesh. Also he spent 10 years in the interior of the Himalaya’s in Uttara-kashi with contemplative monks.

URL: https://himalayanhermit.com/

Yogi of silence teaches yoga

TheLondonEconomic.com features an article titled “Guru who spent almost 20 years living as silent hermit has left forest to travel the world to teach people yoga.” The yogi is Vijay Gopala, “who spent 17 years living in meditative silence – where he almost never spoke – and contemplated life from his shack in the middle of an Indian forest.” Gopala now travels the world to teach about yoga, adapted different poses and techniques according to the needs of his students. He was featured by TLE because of his attendance at a world yoga festival in Reading, England. He tells the interviewer:

Actually, different types of yoga are a recent development. For me, yoga is just yoga. We make reference from the classical books of Indian philosophy. It’s all explained in different books and dates back many thousands of years. People who can’t understand the classical type move on to the others. The type I teach is more authentic, it’s more than intense, it has a depth. New types are superficial.

URL: https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/travel/guru-who-spent-almost-20-years-living-as-silent-hermit-has-left-forest-to-travel-the-world-to-teach-people-yoga/25/07/

Indian sadhus at festival

The Daily Mail (UK) highlights the annual Maha Shivaratri festival in India, where the chief feature is the appearance of sadhus or religious hermits and holy men.

From the article:

The elusive Naga Sadhu holy men of India have been caught on camera at an annual Hindu festival in which they bathe in sacred waters in homage to Hindu God Lord Shiva.

In March 2016, photographer Siddharth Kaneria ventured to the ancient Indian city of Junagadh to capture the men worshipping Lord Shiva at the Maha Shivaratri festival.

The festival falls on the thirteenth and fourteenth days of the Hindu calendar month Phalguna.

URL: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3680993/Not-shy-Hundreds-reclusive-Indian-holy-men-shun-society-seek-life-solitude-come-colourful-religious-festival.html

Russian hermit expelled from India

From <i>Russia & India Report</i> comes this item about a Russian living in India for 15 year as a hermit and now expelled by the government of India based on the hermit’s illegal status and his new desire to return to Russia.

Kirill Pomerantsev has spent 15 years in India living in the forest, studying Hinduism, and receiving food from locals.

“There are no issues in the wilderness. The local people are extremely kind; they helped me in every way possible, sharing their potatoes, beans and flour with me”, notes the Russian.

Pomerantsev explains that in addition to the food he was given by local people, he also ate greens that he picked in the woods. He used the flour to make chapattis.

“I would get up at five in the morning, have a wash, meditate, drink some tea, clean the house, perform puja and study literature. I can read Hindi, a language that I have taught myself”, explains the former hermit.

URL: http://indrus.in/articles/2011/02/27/russian_hermit_to_be_expelled_after_15_years_in_india_12207.html