Jnanananda Bharati

Jnanananda Bharati (1889–1975), also spelled Gnanananda Bharati, was a Sanyasi, lawyer, philosopher, writer and author. Born as Krishnaswamy Iyer to Vakil G. Ramachandra Iyer and Janaki Ammal on 26 October 1889, Krishnaswamy passed his BA, MA and BL degrees at the University of Madras and practiced as a successful lawyer at Tirunelveli.

Family
His father Ramachandra Iyer took Sanyasa in 1922 with the name of "Ramananda Saraswathi" in the presence of Sringeri Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal at Sringeri. He spent his last days in Kolli hills near [Namakkal] where his Samadhi is located near viswambal Samudram.

Books
Sri Jnanananda Bharathi Swamigal was a scholar in Tamil and Sanskrit and had command over English and had written more than 80 books on Advaita Philosophy and on Jagadgurus of Sringeri Mutt. His religious and philosophical articles were published in The Hindu, Bhavan's journal, Kalyana Kalpataru, Sankara Krupa etc., and his books were published by reputed publishers like Chetna Publications, Bombay, Geetha Press, Gorakhpur, Vani Vilas Press, Srirangam etc. He was a regular contributor to the book review section of the Hindu, where he specialized in reviewing Hindu religious and philosophical books. He voluntarily stopped practicing as a lawyer, retiring at 60 to spread the message of Vedanta among the general population. He had researched various ancient manuscripts available at the Sringeri Mutt and brought to light important ancient works.

Sanyasa and samadhi
On 3 November 1966, he took Sanyasa in the presence of Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidya Tirtha Mahaswamigal of Sringeri, at Brindavan on the banks of river Yamuna, UP, and was given the Sanyasa Ashrama name Jnanananda Bharathi. He attained Samadhi at Mannadimangalam, near Sholavandan, Madurai District, Tamil Nadu, on 9 April 1975.