Peethadhipati
Narayanananda Swamiji
Balaji Matha is a spiritual nonprofit organization dedicated to sharing the universal truth of the Vedas and the Upanishads of India — that God is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent, and every person's purpose in life is to realize this Oneness with everything.
Swami Narayanananda hails from a family of priests near Bengaluru, India. His father's guidance influenced his spiritual growth at a very tender age. At twelve, he entered the Adi Chuchanagiri Matha Mahakshetra Ashram for further edification.
— Peethadhipati Narayanananda Swamiji
Journey to America
In 1993, Swamiji was invited to come to America, where he rendered priest service to the public in the Bay Area. In 1999, he went to the Himalayas on pilgrimage. After many years of service in local temples, in 2006 he founded the Balaji Matha in California.
Swamiji took the vow of "Sanyas" with Padmabhushan Dr. Jagadguru Sri Sri Swami Balagangadharanatha in July 2010. Swami Anandanath (Narayanananda) returned to America and has dedicated his life to serve humanity.
Balaji Matha Grows
In 2010, the Balaji Matha Temple received an anonymous donation of 23 acres of land near Hollister, in Tres Pinos, California. Swamiji has future plans of building a meditation retreat at this site, where students will learn about Hindu scriptures while communing with nature.
In 2012, Swamiji built and inaugurated the new Balaji Matha Temple in San Jose, California. There is also a sister Matha in Bengaluru, India to connect the eastern spiritual culture from India to the western world.
Title of Peethadhipati
At the Panduranga and Sai Baba Maha Kumbabhishekam in June 2013, devotees requested to honor Swamiji with the title of Peethadhipati, forming a seat of prayer for him at Balaji Matha. Sri Prabhu and Smt Poonam Goel crowned him and made him the first Peethadhipati of Balaji Matha Temple of North America.
The title given to Swamiji is: "Balaji Matha Peethadhipati Sri Sri Narayanananda Puri Swami."
Pilgrimages & Vision
In 2015, Swamiji arranged a pilgrimage to the Chota Char Dham in Uttarakhand, India. In 2016, he took devotees to Lord Pashupatinath in Kathmandu, Nepal, and onward to Lhasa, Tibet, Manas Sarovar and Kailash Parvat.
During the parikrama of Mount Kailash, while meditating, Swamiji had a holy vision of a Shiva temple. The blessings of this spiritual experience revealed Lord Shiva's desire for a temple to be constructed at that site for the benefit of mankind.
Interfaith & Service
Swamiji diligently attends discussions and programs of different faiths whenever physically possible. Studying different religious texts to understand their messages and explaining the parallels between them is a favorite task of Swamiji. His steady focus has always been to gently steer devotees along the spiritual path.
In November 2018, Swamiji travelled to India with devotees visiting Bhubaneswar, Puri Jagannath Dham, Bodh Gaya, Varanasi, Sarnath, Prayag, Ayodhya, Naimeesharanya, Kurukshetra, Vaishnodevi, Meenakshipuram, and finally Rameswaram.
Narayananda Swami's tireless devotion and unfailing quest for the betterment of humanity is a beacon of hope in this present world.