THE FOUNDER
Chandra Mohan Bhandari – Formerly Ambassador of India
Mr C.M. Bhandari is a B.Sc. Gold Medalist of Kanpur University (1968) and Master in Physics from IIT, Kanpur (1970). He first joined the Indian Forest Service in March 1972 and has a professional degree in forestry to his credit. He was topper of his batch, won 12 awards, including the best forester prize at the convocation of the two years forestry degree from Indian Forest College, Dehra Dun. He also has a Master’s degree from National Defense College, New Delhi (1991).
He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974 and served as India’s Ambassador to Poland, Lithuania, UAE and Cambodia and as Consul General in Toronto, Canada. His other diplomatic assignments were in Thailand, Norway, Nigeria and Australia besides four assignments in Delhi in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, Government of India (GOI) from time to time.
After 37 years of illustrious career with the GOI, he retired in June 2009. As a diplomat, he embodied the civilizational heritage of India and radiated the timeless wisdom of Vedic scriptures by deeds and words. A true Yogi, he was immune to trappings of high office. His exposure to different cultures and religions, his keen study and observation of their traditions and practices, his openness to understanding Truth and accepting true knowledge from every religion, culture and corner of the world has helped him understand the different facets of each individual’s complete personality and develop a universal approach to Self Management techniques.
He has now dedicated himself to promoting peace, harmony and friendship through scientific techniques of Yog and Ayurved internationally. He freely accepts teachings and practices of all major religions of the world and promotes the essential common features of all of them with scientific approach. He always recalls the many positive results he himself experienced from Ramadan fasting during his stay in the UAE or visiting Churches in Poland and Lithuania or meeting Mother Teresa when she received her Nobel Peace Prize or Dr. Nelson Mandela when he became President of the Republic of South Africa or one-on-one conversations with HH Dalai Lama and many other acclaimed Gurus.
He is also committed to promoting community development projects in his native state of Uttarakhand (UK) in India in an eco-friendly and holistic manner through empowerment of Women and Youth. He runs a modest but modern facility, the Devamber Arogya Dham in his village Mawra in Ranikhet, UK for practicing Yog and Ayurved based lifestyles and health rejuvenation. His joint family runs a Hindi-English medium School for children from poor families in Gurukul traditions in Kashipur, UK where modern education is empowered with Vedic traditions of Yog and Ayurved sciences. He is Patron of the Institute of Yoga and Ayurveda of Sullislaw in Poland (www.sulislaw.pl) and conducts Holistic Health & Wellness Management (HHWM) programs the world over in association with like minded institutions and individuals. He is member of UK Government committees for Village Tourism and the International Yog Festival held at Rishikesh from 1-7 March annually.
He has authored several books – the first ‚Saving Angkor’ is on Cambodia’s Hindu temples, the second ‚A Journey to Heaven’ is a coffee table book on travel to Kailas Mansarovar in Tibet and the third ‚Yoga Shakti’ is on Yog and Ayurved sciences. Revised and enlarged editions of the last two books were released in 2010 and 2011.
He also has a 2 DVDs set on Self Management Practices.
ORGANIZATION
DEVAMBER AROGYA DHAM, Vill Mawra, Tehsil Ranikhet,
Dist. Almora, Uttarakhand;
It is a novel initiative of promoting village tourism with Yog and Ayurved practices. It is mainly aimed at promoting economic activity in the village so that desertion of villages can be arrested and, if possible, reversed by creating employment opportunities and self-employment. It is a win-win initiative in which the visitors enjoy quality life and time at competitive cost and the villagers get economic returns and employment.