PujyaSri Omkarananda Mahaswamigal was born on January 17, 1956, in a Vaidika family, in Perur, Coimbatore. His parents were Sri Vaidhyanatha Ganapathigal and Smt Alamelu Ammal. He was named as Goshteshwara Sharma alias Manoharan.
Theirs was a family of orthodox Vedic scholars, deeply rooted in tradition and culture. Manoharan adopted the Vedic lifestyle from an early age.
An erudite scholar par excellence, he was a Ghanapati in his purvashrama, well versed in both the Veda Purva Bhaga and Vedanta Sastra.
PujyaSri Swamiji took Sanyasa diksha from Sri Swami Chidbhavanandar, the founder of Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam, Thirupparaithurai.
Sri Swami Chidbhavanandar was a great spiritual master and a dedicated worker for the society. He was an avataric Dharma warrior but with no pretentions.
The various dimensions of Sri Swami Chidbhavananda were taken forward significantly by PujyaSri Omkararanda Mahaswamigal, for the benefit of society.
PujyaSri Swamiji then learnt traditionalist Vedanta, between 1987 and 1995, from PujyaSri Swami Paramarthananda, one of the foremost disciples of PujyaSri Swami Dayananda Saraswati.
PujyaSri Swamiji was an epitome of devotion, and this would get expressed through his natural rendition of various Divine Songs and Slokas, in satsang or front of a sannidhi.
Teaching the Scriptures - whether it be Sanskrit Vedanta Sastra or Tamil Scriptures, was effortless, and it was a natural expression and extension of Pujyasri Swamiji's divine inner self.
It was a joy and satisfaction listening to PujyaSri Swamiji unfold the most difficult Scriptural nuances with ease. To ensure understanding of important or comparatively tough slokas, he sometimes explained that one Shloka in several classes.
He had conducted classes for many sacred Tamil texts like Kaivalya Navanitam, Thevaram, Thiruvachakam, Thirumandiram, Thayumanavar’s hymns, Bharatiyar’s songs and Thirukkural.
His talks, with his clear voice, natural non-hesitating, flowing oration, filled with scholarly pearls and spiritual insights made his mesmerised audience realise the core values of the texts that he taught.
Pujyasri Swamiji was a great institutional builder. He founded Sri Swami Chidbhavananda Ashram in Vedapuri, Theni, Tamilnadu, which became an epicenter of a host of Dharmic activities.
PujyaSri Swamiji formed Vedanta Sasthra Prachara Trust and Sri Dakshinamurti Seva Samiti at Theni.
He had established a wonderful Adiguru Sri Prajna Dakshinamurti Vidhyapitham in Theni, with a nine feet Adiguru vigraham surrounded by parivara devathas. He established a Pathasala and Gosala in Vedapuri, Theni.
A unique discipline in daily prayers has been set by him which is well admired and followed by the devotees of the Vidyapitham.
Sri Swamigal took over the responsibilities of Sri Bhuvaneswari Peetham, on May 11, 2005, bringing the Puja discipline and Vedantic classes to Pudukkottai devotees. He added value to the procedures that were followed in Puja and homams.
PujyaSri Swamigal conducted Vedantic classes on regular basis, on texts like Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Kaivalya Navanitam, Hamsa Gita, Thirukkural, Sri Lalitha Sahasranamam, Sri Bhuvaneswari Mahima, etc.
He resolved to build a Kalhara Peetham for Sri Bhuvaneswari which had become a wonderful reality.
Karpavai Karpom – an initiative by him to spread Srimad Bhagavad Gita and other texts, daily through WhatsApp audio messages, which was well received by thousands of devotees.
The expectation of these daily messages were so high that any break in this daily broadcast due to unexpected reasons, had to be informed to devotees in advance.
He also conducted a five-year Atma Vidhya Online course in Tamil. Thousands of his students were benefited by this course.
PujyaSri Swami Dayananda Saraswati chose him, in 2014, as the head of Dharma Rakshana Samiti – DRS – a vibrant movement that had spread in all villages infusing energy to protect Dharma in all forms, from renovating village temples to immunising against forcible conversions.
PujyaSri Swami Dayananda Saraswati also appointed him, in 2014, as Chairman and Managing Trustee of Sri Mahalinga Swami Seva Trust. This Trust built five chariots for Sri Mahalingaswamy in Thiruvidaimaruthur Temple, in Kumbakonam district.
In 2017, he founded UV Foundation – Ullamthorum Valluvam Foundation – to spread the message of Thirukural through daily WhatsApp messages.
He attained Mahasamadhi on May 10, 2021, and His Adhistanam is in Sri Swami Chidbhavananda Ashram, Vedapuri, Theni.