Know About Swami Ghananand Saraswati, An Ethnic African Who Established Hindu Monastery Of Africa 

The much revered Swami Satyanand Saraswati of Hindu Monastery of Africa passed away in early hours of Tuesday in Ghana, reports GhanaWeb.

A statement signed by Bramacharini Adimata of the Monastery in Accra and copied to the Ghana News Agency stated that the Swami passed away peacefully at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital where he was admitted for the past week.

Swami Satyanand Saraswati, a born Catholic, was initiated into the Divine Order of Sannyasi in 2012 by his Guru Swami Ghananand Saraswati, and worked tirelessly for Sanatana Dharma for 35 years.

According to the statement, he helped his Guru, Swami Ghananand to restructure the Hindu Monastery of Africa in Ghana to spread the knowledge of Sanatana Dharma. At the monastery, a shrine dedicated to his Guru was built by Swami Satyanand Saraswati.

Swami Ghananand Saraswati, who established the Ghana's first African Hindu Monastery in 1975, made accessible the details of the Hindu faith and philosophy to common people. Born in a native Ghanian faith, Ghananand’s parents converted to Christianity. However, in his own words, Ghananand failed to find answers in religious texts.

"From a very early age I would think about the mysteries of the universe and try to find the answers in religious texts. But I failed," Swami Ghanananda was quoted as saying by BBC.

He finally stumbled upon religious texts of Hinduism and that started a journey that took him to Rishikesh in Uttarakhand, India, and finally in the monastery in Accra. He says that his Guru in Rishikesh had inspired him to open the monastery in Accra.

The Swamy made it clear that his goal wasn’t to convert people to Hinduism, but only help those who seek the truth. In the monastery, people born into all faiths including Islam come together. He himself faced opposition from local sections due to his faith, but the visitors to the monastery kept growing.

Jamer Baroudy said he was born into the Islamic faith but his mother introduced him to Hinduism when he was eight years old. He says: "I am aware that Islam prohibits idol worshipping but then God doesn't make any distinction. I visit this temple because I find solace here."