Meeting Swami Vimalananda at the Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh

Back to the Himalayas, Coni has visited the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh, home of the Divine Life Society founded by Swami Sivananda. Here’s his account.

This morning, I met Swami Vimalananda who invited me at the great Swami Sivananda’s Samadhi in Rishikesh. Since I was a bit early, I had a stroll around and took some pictures of the ashram of the Divine Life Society, which was founded back in 1936.

After a pooja was finished at the Samadhi, Swami Vimalananda arrived and took a seat. He was soon followed by some of the devotees who gathered around him. When he asked “Is Mr. Coni here?”, I knew it was my turn and I took a seat next to the Swami. I shortly told him about the ‘Yoga in India’ book project and he seemed to like it a lot. He told me to come back on Monday at 10am for further discussion. He also gave me the green light to take photographs of the premises.

By the time I finished taking photos of Swami Sivananda’s Samadhi it was already lunch time, and I headed to the busy dining area of the ashram, finishing my yoga day with a tasty lunch.