Swami Ramanand Tirtha

Swami Ramanand Tirtha
Born	Vyenkatesh Bhagvanrao Khedgikar India
Died	22 Jan 1972 (aged 69) India
Cause of death	natural
Resting place	Hyderabad, Telangana
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	teacher, freedom fighter
Employer	Initially Teacher in Ausa in Latur district.
Known for	Indian independence movement, Hyderabad liberation struggle activism and reorganising and leading the Hyderabad liberation struggle
Political party	Indian National Congress

Swami Ramanand Tirtha or Swami Ramanand Teerth,(Marathi: :स्वामी रामानंदतीर्थ),(Telugu: :స్వామి రామానంద తీర్థ) (1903–1972), was an Indian Freedom fighter, educator and social activist who led the Hyderabad liberation struggle, during the reign of the last Nizam. He was the main leader of the Hyderabad State Congress.

Life

Swami Ramanand Tirtha fought the Nizam after the Congress party established its wing in 1938. He participated in Satyagrahas and was imprisoned for 111 days by the last Nizam. He created a revolutionary movement which helped Hyderabad to integrate with the Indian union in 1948. The integration was successful after The Hyderabad Police Action.

Swamiji had communist leanings initially, but later on became a Hindu sannyasi (monk). His original name was Vyenkatesh Bhagvanrao Khedgikar. He was given the name "Swami Ramanand Tirtha" after taking the Sanyas initiation of accepting voluntary bachelorship for rest of his life. He took Sanyas at the villages of: Hipparge Rava, Taluka- Lohara, and the District of Osmanabad.

He started first the National School (Rashtriya Shala) at Hipparge Rava. He worked as a teacher in Ausa in Latur district.

Memorial

Dr. P.V.Narasimha Rao, former Prime Minister of India started "Swami Ramananda Teerth Memorial" in Hyderabad. Swamiji's mortal remains are resting here in the premises at Brahmanvada, Begumpet, Hyderabad. Several other eminent people from Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, were his followers. Several of them headed mostly congressional governments in their respective states. Some have served in the Central Cabinet, too.

University

The Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded which servers the southern part of Marathwada Region of Maharashtra State, specifically to the districts of Nanded, Latur, Parbhani and Hingoli has been named after him. The University, set up in 1994, has 172 colleges affiliated to it.

See also

• Marathwada Mukti Sangram Din

External links

• Swamy Ramananda Tirtha Rural Institute
• http://www.srtist.ac.in/

Publications by Swami Ramanand Teertha

• Hyderabad Swatantrasangramachya Aathavani (Marathi: हैदराबाद स्वातंत्र्य संग्रामाच्या आठवणी) by Swami Ramanand Teerth