Swami Ghanananda

Swami Ghanananda (12 September 1937 – 18 January 2016) சாமி கானானந்தா) is a prominent swami of the indigenous Hindu community in Ghana, and is the first Hindu swami of African ancestry. He was initiated as a swami by the late Swami Krishnananda of India in 1975, and was head the Hindu Monastery of Africa in Accra, Ghana.

Early life

Swami Ghanananda was born in a Senya Beraku village, central region of Ghana on 12 September into a native Ghanaian faith, but his parents converted to Christianity. From a very early age he thought about the mysteries of the universe and tried to find the answers in religious texts.

Journey to India

Swami Ghanananda then read some books on the Hindu faith and embarked upon a new journey which took him to Rishikesh in the Indian state of Uttarakhand in northern India. He spent some time there with a spiritual guru who suggested him to open the monastery in Accra.

First meeting with Swami Krishnananda

In 1962, Swami Ghanananda moved to Accra and on 24 November, he formed the Divine Mystic Path Society. He then started correspondence courses on the Hindu way of life (Sanatana Dharma) with the Divine Life Society of Rishikesh, located in the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India, where he first met Swami Krishnananda of India and became his śishya (disciple), and then in 1975 Swami Krishnananda initiated Swami Ghanananda as a swami.