LUCKNOW: Swami Chinmayanand, 72, who shares a royal lineage in Gonda, now a central UP district, had left home at an age of 20. Born on March 3, 1947 and third among four brothers and one sister, he was Krishnapal Singh who became a ‘sanyasi’ and got the name Swami Chinmayanand after relinquishing the material world.
As per sources close to his family, Krishnapal (now Chinmayanand) was pursuing a course in polytechnic from Mankapur Polytechnic College when he went to Delhi to witness Republic Day parade in late 1960s. But he never returned to the family.After spending years incognito, he, in 1971, went to Parmarth Ashram in Rishikesh where he was named as Swami Chinmayanand.
His three brothers - Ram Kripal Singh, Ram Bahwan Singh and Tungnath Singh, still live in his native village Tyorasi Ramaipur in Praspur tehsil of Gonda district. They all are into farming. As per the family sources, Swami Chinmayanand too has around 20 bigha land in his village still in his name.
After leaving home, Chinmayanand did graduation and post graduation from Oriental Institute of Philosophy, Vrindavan. Later, in 1982, he got a Ph.D in philosophy from Banaras University and joined the temple movement actively in 1980s.