Teacher turns monk: Glimpse of the spiritual journey of Srikant aka Ramaduttanand

It is often said that destiny takes you to the desired path if you continue to move ahead to achieve any goal in life. This has also happened with a teacher from Odisha’s Ganjam district who has now turned into a monk. Yes, you heard it right. Meet Srikant Acharya, a former teacher of Khaling Upper Primary school who has now renounced materialistic life to become a sanyasi.

Srikant has now got a new identity. He is now called as Ramaduttanand Saraswati after completing necessary formalities and diksha required to become a sanyasi.

Ramaduttanand hails from Badiaosta village under Sanakhemundi block. Once a teacher by profession, Ramaduttanand was always inclined towards spirituality.

“Since childhood, religious and other spiritual activities interested me. I also did not had any attachment towards any other things in the world,” said Ramaduttanand.

Ramaduttanand is a bachelor and turned a sanyasi after doing the rigorous rituals at Swami Sivananda Ashram headquarters at Rishikesh on the occasion of Maha Shivratri.

Recently, Ramaduttanand visited his village, participated in a religious event and sought alms from the villagers. After having a darshan at the local temple, Ramaduttanand left for Divya Jivan Sangh branch at Badiaosta.

“I will continue to walk on the path shown by my gurus,” said Ramaduttanand.

(Reported by Jagannath Sahu)