HH Bhakti Gaurava Narayana Swami was born near Jagannath Puri Dham in the state of Odisha, India, in the year 1953.
He graduated from SCS College, Puri with Honours and post graduated from Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, West Bengal, with a gold medal, in the year 1978. He then joined as a lecturer in SCS College, Puri in 1980. Desiring to lead a spiritual life, His Holiness resigned from govt.service and joined ISKCON Vrindavan as a full time renounced devotee towards the end of 1981. He travelled and preached throughout UP, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh from 1981 to 1984. He enrolled many Life Patron members, lectured in residential, club and pandal programmes during this period. He was then transferred to Kolkata in 1984 and served in ISKCON Kolkata temple as life membership director and vice-president until 1989. During his stay in Kolkata, Maharaj started student preaching programme. Many professional-degree students practiced Krishna Consciousness under his guidance. Since 1987, Maharaj started preaching in Odisha, especially the young, educated people in industrial regions like Talcher Thermal and Angul. Then in 1990, he shifted to ISKCON Bhubaneswar where he first started youth preaching programme, organised the temple’s first Rathayatra, conducted several public and home programmes, translated TEACHINGS OF LORD KAPILA into odia, and took charge of deity installation for the new temple. In 1992 he shifted to ISKCON Juhu, Mumbai where he served as Life Patron Director until the end of 1993. Then he was assigned a great service to develop ISKCON Govardhan project as Manager in 1994. In 1999 he was appointed as President of ISKCON Govardhan and he continued to serve in that capacity until 2004. Maharaj took Sannyas in 2003 and became an initiating spiritual master in 2007. Since 2009 till date, His Holiness is engaged in the service of Krishna as a Zonal Secretary for Odisha (Central and South). During this period he also edited Sri Chaitanya Charitamrta, in Hindi, for Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Due to his tireless preaching in Angul area of Odisha, an ISKCON centre was established there in the year 2010. A temple project is now taking shape and rapidly developing under his guidance.. His Holiness continues to travel and preach all over India and in foreign countries. Audio of Bhakti Gaurava Narayana Swami Photos of Bhakti Gaurava Narayana Swami |