Childhood, studies and service life (1880–1901) (Gurudham), the birthplace of Swami Nigamananda in
dist. Nadia At his birth, Nigamananda was named Nalinikanta (নলিনীকান্ত, ନଳିନୀକାନ୍ତ, नलिनीकान्त - in
Hindu meaning is: Lotus, water), per the wishes of his father, Bhuban Mohan and the advice of his father's guru,
Swami Bhaskarananda Saraswati. At the age of thirteen (1893), Nalinikanta lost his mother, Manikya Sundari Devi to
cholera, pushing him into depression. In 1894–95, he passed the student scholarship examination and studied at
Meherpur High School. In 1895, he entered
Dhaka Asanulla Engineering College. In 1897, his father married him to a thirteen-year-old girl named Sudhansubala Devi of
Halisahar. He completed his study in 1899, and joined a service in the
District Board of Dinajpur, the estate of
Rani Rashmoni. At the end of
Vadra, 1901 (approximately five years after marriage), when he was serving as the supervisor of the
Narayanpur Estate (Zamindari), Nalinikanta saw the shadowy image of his wife standing at the table glowering and silent while she was away at
Kutabpur (Nalinikanta's village). He went to Kutabpur to inquire and learned that she had died just an hour before his vision. He unsuccessfully attempted to reach his wife through
occult science. His maternal grandfather was
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
Turning point Until he lost his wife, Nalinikanta had seen death as the end, but losing her led him to believe that there must be life after death. Nalinikanta became obsessed with this question. His inquiry took him to
Madras (now Chennai) to study
theosophy at the
Theosophical Society at Adyar. Through a
medium, he was able to talk to his wife, but remained unsatisfied. His discussions at the society led him to search for a
yogi who could fulfill his desire to meet his dead wife and educate him in the true philosophy of "life after death".
Spiritual experience (1902–1905) ) from him and was directed to chant his mantra for 21 days. Under Bamakhepa's guidance, he had physical
darshan of
Tara Devi in the form of his wife. This darshan led him to another mystery. He saw Tara Devi coming out of his body and mingling with him. To solve this mystery,
Bamakshepa advised Nalinikanta to attain the knowledge of
Advaita from a
vedantic guru. In 1902, he searched for a
jnani guru. and learned the theories of
Brahman (god as the formless one),
Brahma sutras and
vedanta. He was initiated by the Satchidananda into renunciation, and according to that principle changed his name to Nigamananda. Satchidananda directed Nigamananda to undertake pilgrimages to the four institutions (
Char Dham) of religious seats and to realize the significance of each, as the Hindus held these places of worship sacred. After these pilgrimages, he returned to the ashram. On his arrival at the ashram, Sachidananda reviewed Nigamananda's pilgrimages and stated: "My boy, you have travelled widely and seen the religious places and acquired knowledge and experience. All that I had to teach you has been accomplished but it is for you now to put my teachings into practice. You have to experience for yourself the truth of your being and this can only be done through concerted efforts as well as the practice and observance of
yogic principles. Thus, you now have to seek out a guru who will provide you with proper guidance in this line". in 2012. Nigamananda then went out to seek a guru. In 1903, he met a "yogi guru" (
yoga master), whom he called "Sumeru Dasji" (otherwise known as
Koot Hoomi Lal Singh or Kuthumi). Nigamananda was accepted as his disciple. Under Das's guidance, he learned yoga. After hard practice, in the month of
Poush in 1904, Nigamananda was able to master
Savikalpa samadhi (the trance in which the yogi loses his body consciousness and acquires a transcendental consciousness while retaining his individual identity). Soon after Nigamananda desired to experience the state of
Nirvikalpa, an advanced yogic
samadhis at
Kamakshya,
Guwahati Assam (Nilachal Hill). Nigamananda followers believe that he did enter by way of this samadhi and returned into his body with the residual consciousness of "I am the master or guru", and in yoga he had visualized and understood in his own body, his guru's
vedic knowledge. (
The place where the "Nirvikalpa samadhi" was experienced by Swami Nigamananda has been identified. Assam Governor Janaki Ballav Patnaik inaugurated the Nirbikalpa Sidhi Sthal of Swami Nigamananda at Nilachal Hills in Kamakhya Dham, Guwahati on 20 December 2012.) In 1904, he was in Kashi (now known as
Varanasi), when
Goddess Annapurna appeared in a dream and stated that his knowledge was limited to formless god and not gone beyond that, hence he was still incomplete. He accepted her challenge and traveled to Gouri devi (a
Siddha Yogini) to learn
Bhava Sadhana. Gouri devi accepted him as a disciple and taught him
bhakti or prem (eternal nature of divine love play) to understand the physical world as the transformation of god in bhava sadhana. Nigamananda's long and continued search for his guru, resembled the search undertaken by his future disciples to find him.
Recognition as paramahamsa (1904) In 1904, Nigamananda went to
Allahabad to see
kumbha mela and learned that his master Sachidandand was in the area, staying with Shankaracharya of
Sringeri Matha. He found
Shankaracharya (
Mahant or superior) sitting on a throne surrounded by 125
monks, including his guru. Seeing him, Nigamananda went to pay his respects to his guru, and then to the higher-ranking mahant. The sadhu was upset by this perceived disrespect in not honoring the "mahant" first, but in response, Nigamananda quoted the scripture: "Mannatha shri jagannatha madguru shri jagadguru madatma sarvabhutatma tasmai shri gurave namaha, meaning, "My guru is highest in whole world, hence I should respect my guru first". Nigamananda further explained to the sadhu assemblies that "on the basis of the
vedanta philosophy there was no difference between his 'Guru' (Shri Sachidanand Saraswati) and 'Jagadguru' (Shri Shankarcharya)". Jagadguru Shankaracharya endorsed this response and recognized Nigamananda as one who had achieved spiritual enlightenment. Jagadguru conferred him with the title "
Paramahamsa" and was known as "Paribrajakacharay Paramahansa Shree Mad Swami Nigamananda Saraswati Deva".
Maha Samadhi (1935) Nigamananda spent the last fourteen years of his life in
Puri. He taken Maha Samadhi in
Calcutta on 29 November 1935. and other ceremonial occasions. His ashram at Halisahar, Saraswata Matha (previously Shanti Ashram) in
Jorhat and Sundarbans are places of pilgrimage. == Mission ==