Chidananda Saraswati [1] (24 September 1916 – 28 August 2008) was president of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, India.

[3] Sridhar Rao (name of Chidananda Saraswati before sannyasa) was born to a South Indian Hindu family[4] in Mangalore.

Sri Srinivasa Rao was a prosperous Zamindar, a rich landlord owning several villages, extensive lands, and palatial buildings in South India.

[2][5] At the age of eight, Sridhar Rao's life was influenced by Sri Anantayya, a friend of his grandfather, who used to relate to him stories from the epics, Ramayana and Mahābhārata.

His cheerful personality, exemplary conduct, and extraordinary traits earned him a special place in the hearts of all teachers and students who came into his contact.

[2] Service, especially of the sick, often brought out the fact that he had no idea of his own separate existence as an individual.

He would raise his finger in grim admonition when he saw anyone practicing cruelty to dumb animals in his presence.

[2] Quite early in life, although born in a wealthy family, he shunned the pleasures of the world to devote himself to seclusion and contemplation.

[2] He shared his knowledge with others, so much so that he virtually became the Guru of the household and the neighborhood, to whom he would talk of honesty, love, purity, service and devotion to God.

He was an ardent admirer of Sri Ramakrishna Math at Madras and regularly participated in the Satsangs (association with the wise) there.

After a vigorous search by his parents, he was found in the secluded Ashram of a holy sage some miles from the sacred mountain shrine Tirupati.

The growing reputation of his divine healing hand attracted a rush of patients to the Sivananda Charitable Dispensary.

[2] It was also in the first year of his stay at the Ashram that he wrote his magnum opus 'Light Fountain', an immortal biography of his Guru Sivananda.

[2] Again in 1968, Chidananda undertook the Global Tour at the request of numerous disciples and devotees of Sivananda and visited all countries of the world.

"[6] Chidananda Saraswati, right from the beginning, worked and served the cause of Sivananda's mission tirelessly to spread his Divine Life message far and wide, not only in Bharatavarsha (India) but also in countries outside.

For example, after completing a thirty-day fast while in Canada, Swami Chidananda arranged for resources to be provided to support the founding of a Sivanada Ashram in Vancouver.

[7] One of Chidananda Saraswati's disciples was Lilias Folan who went on to become popular for teaching yoga on American TV.