{{Short description|Hindu sage and Vedanta scholar}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}} {{Use Indian English|date=October 2016}} {{Refimprove|date=February 2011}} {{Infobox Hindu leader |name = Swami Tapovan Maharaj |image = <!-- Deleted image removed: thumb|right|150px|Tapovan Maharaj --> |caption = |religion = Hinduism |birth_date = 3 December 1889 |birth_place = kerala |birth_name = Subrahmanyan Nair |death_date = 16 January 1957 (aged 67) |death_place = |known = |nationality = Indian |philosophy = Vedanta |founder = |guru = |influences = |disciples = Chinmayananda Saraswati |honors = |footnotes = }} '''Tapovan Maharaj''' (1889–1957) was a Hindu sage and Vedanta scholar.
==Life== Swami Tapovan Maharaj is one of the most renowned saints of the 20th century. He was a contemporary of Swami Sivananda Maharaj who was the Guru of Swami Chinmayananda Maharaj.
Swami Tapovan Maharaj was born in 1889 on the Suklapaksha Ekadashi day of Mārgasirsa month.<ref name=himalayas90bio/>{{rp|v}} His mother, Kunjamma, belonged to an ancient aristocratic Nair Hindu family at Mudappallur in Palghat Taluk of Kerala.<ref name=himalayas90bio/>{{rp|v}} His father, Achutan, belonged to Kotuvayur in Kerala.<ref name=himalayas90bio/>{{rp|v}}
Based on his date of birth, the infant's horoscope, cast in accordance with family tradition, revealed "unusually contrary indications of huge prosperity and abject poverty".<ref name=kk07>{{cite book |last1=Krishnakumar |first1=Radhika |title=Himalayan hermit: the lofty life of Sri Swami Tapovanam |date=2007 |publisher=Central Chinmaya Mission Trust |location=Mumbai, India |isbn=9788175973800 |oclc=297212306 |edition=1st |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7QYrDwAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{rp|2}}
Born with purvashrama name Subrahmanyan,<ref name=himalayas90bio>"Sri Swami Tapovanji Maharaj: A Brief Life Sketch" (pp. v-xiii) in {{cite book |last1=Tapovanam Maharaj |first1=Swami |last2=Pillai |first2=((T. N. Kesava (translator))) |title=Wanderings in the Himalayas [translation of Himagirivihāraṃ] |date=1990 |publisher=Central Chinmaya Mission Trust |location=Bombay |isbn=81-7597-168-1 |oclc=863309936 |edition=revised |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SKNQDwAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{rp|v}}<ref>"Sri Achuthan Nair aspired to give his son Chippukkutty (that was Swamiji's name in his ''poorvasrama'') the best education" (''Wanderings in the Himalayas'', 1990 edition, p. v)</ref> he authored two books on his travels through the Himalayas: "Wanderings in the Himalayas" (''Himagiri Viharam'')<ref name=himalayas60>{{cite book |last1=Tapovanam Maharaj |first1=Swami |last2=Pillai |first2=((T. N. Kesava (translator))) |title=Wanderings in the Himalayas [translation of Himagirivihāraṃ] |date=1960 |publisher=Chinmaya |location=Madras |oclc=13415586 |edition=1st English}}</ref> and "Kailasa Yatra." Tapovan Maharaj exhibited a deep love for nature and his accounts of his travels demonstrate such.<ref>{{cite web |title=Swami Tapovanam - Introduction |url=https://archives.chinmayamission.com/gurus/swami-tapovan/Intro |access-date=26 February 2026 |website=Chinmaya Archives |quote=Intimate communion with Nature... gave Swami Tapovan the boundless spiritual reverence. He revealed Nature's secrets in his 'travelogue' in two Sanskrit masterpieces...}}</ref> His autobiography, written in Sanskrit is titled "Ishvara Darshana". He died in the early hours of 16 January 1957, which was the day of Pausha Purnima according to Hindu calendar.
==See also== * Swami Sundaranand
==References== {{Reflist}}
*[https://www.chinmayauk.org/our-leaders/swami-tapovan-maharaj/ Swami Tapovan Maharaj, Biography] Chinmaya Mission
==External links==
*{{ cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7e0QbyGa4w |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/U7e0QbyGa4w| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live| title= Early Years of Swami Thapovanam |website=YouTube |date=25 September 2018 }}{{cbignore}} (7:04, Youtube) *{{ cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6nD_pozwvo |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/Q6nD_pozwvo| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live| title= Swami Tapovan Maharaj |website=YouTube |date=9 January 2014 }}{{cbignore}} (7:04, Youtube; first 3:00 on Chinmayananda) *{{cite web |url=http://www.chinmayamission.com/swami-tapovan.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319002444/http://www.chinmayamission.com/swami-tapovan.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-03-19 |title= Swami Tapovan Maharaj (biography at Chinmaya Mission)}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tapovan}} Category:Advaitin philosophers Category:Indian Hindu monks Category:Vedanta Category:Indian male writers Category:20th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians Category:Writers from Kerala Category:Malayali people Category:1889 births Category:1957 deaths Category:Hindu studies scholars Category:People from Palakkad district Category:20th-century Indian philosophers