The Biography of His Holiness Swami Ghananand Saraswati
The ideals of Swami Vivekananda, who envisioned monastics as embodiments of humility, selfless service, and spiritual dynamism, are exemplified in the life and legacy of His Holiness Swami Ghananand Saraswati. A pioneer of Hindu monasticism in West Africa, Swami Ghananand dedicated his life to the spiritual upliftment of humanity and the propagation of Sanatana Dharma.
Born as Guide Kwesi Essel in Ghana, he was the son of a traditional herbalist father and a mother who was both a royal princess and a priestess. From this unique lineage, he inherited a dual legacy of indigenous healing knowledge and spiritual vocation.
The untimely death of his mother when he was approximately nine years old left a profound impact on him, disrupting his formal education and propelling him towards prayer as a source of solace and spiritual inquiry.
As a young boy, he assisted his father in administering herbal remedies and simultaneously began to offer prayers for the sick. Observing the tangible results of these prayers intensified his spiritual inclinations and awakened a lifelong pursuit of divine wisdom. His nascent curiosity about deeper spiritual truths was further aroused when a friend returning from Burma and India introduced him to spiritual literature from the Indian subcontinent. Among the materials he received was a pamphlet adorned with images of Hindu deities—icons he did not intellectually comprehend but to which he instinctively felt drawn and began to venerate.
Despite his grounding in African traditional spiritual practices, Swami Ghananand felt an unrelenting yearning for a spiritual guide or Guru who could initiate him into a higher, more universal understanding of divinity. His reputation as a healer continued to grow, eventually attracting the attention of prominent societal figures, including a traditional chief and a close advisor to Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. These elders, recognising his spiritual potential, encouraged him to travel to India to deepen his understanding and seek a Guru.
Adopt the motto "Planned Living and High Thinking" become the embodiment of truth, love and purity. Embrace the idea of selfless service. Know that work is worship. Deny the urges of lower nature. These may be difficult in the beginning but your effort will be crowned with success.
~ 2008 ~
At the time, interest in Yoga and Eastern spirituality was burgeoning in Ghana, but the absence of institutional structures such as temples or trained Gurus limited meaningful engagement. Swami Ghananand established a small prayer group to respond to this spiritual void. A seemingly providential encounter with a pamphlet from the Divine Life Society in India rekindled his aspirations for pilgrimage. With support from his well-wishers, he embarked on a spiritual journey to India in the early 1970s, ultimately arriving at the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh.
Confronted with unfamiliar cultural and linguistic environments at the Ashram, Swami Ghananand initially experienced confusion and alienation. The resident monastics, noticing his distress, brought his case to the attention of His Holiness Swami Krishnananda, the General Secretary of the Divine Life Society. In response, Swami Krishnananda offered reassurance and encouraged him to absorb the teachings through attentive listening, trusting that comprehension would emerge in due course. Recognising his unique educational needs, the Ashram reopened its Vedanta School specifically to support his learning. After two years of study, Swami Ghananand expressed his desire to return to Ghana to disseminate the spiritual knowledge he had acquired—an aspiration that Swami Krishnananda warmly endorsed.
Upon his return, Swami Ghananand began conducting regular pujas and satsangs at his residence in Odorkor, Accra. Unknown to him at the time, the divine orchestration of his spiritual journey would soon bring him into the orbit of his future Guru, His Holiness Swami Krishnanand Saraswati of the Human Service Trust. When Swami Krishnanand Saraswati visited Ghana and learned of a devout young Ghanaian conducting Hindu services, he arranged to meet him. Swami Ghananand, then known affectionately as Esselji, was invited to collaborate with him.
Driven by a profound desire for formal monastic initiation, Esselji persistently petitioned Swami Krishnanand Saraswati to accept him as a sannyasi (renunciate). Initially met with resistance, his request was eventually granted. Before initiating him, Swami Krishnanand consulted Esselji’s family, who, recognising the depth of his spiritual commitment, gave their consent. The initiation ceremony, held in March 1975, was a historic and grand event attended
by chiefs, government dignitaries, jurists, royals, and members of the Indian community in Ghana. At the culmination of the rites, Esselji was given the monastic name Swami Ghananand Saraswati.
In the aftermath of this transformative initiation, the Divine Life Society in Ghana was reconstituted as the Hindu Monastery of Africa under the guidance of Swami Krishnanand Saraswati, with Swami Ghananand serving as its founding monk. His Holiness Swami Ghananand Saraswati would go on to play a foundational role in institutionalising Hindu spirituality in Ghana. Through his vision and leadership, the Monastery established five branches across Ghana and one in Togo.
In 2012, four years before his eternal transition, Swami Ghananand Saraswati initiated his disciple and devotee, Swami Satyanand Saraswati, into the Holy Order of Sannyasis, therefore making him the second monk of the Hindu Monastery of Africa.
A pioneering spiritual leader and transnational bridge-builder, Swami Ghananand institutionalised Hindu worship in Ghana through the establishment of multiple monastery branches. He authored fifteen authoritative texts on Hindu philosophy and practice. His teachings harmonised indigenous African spirituality with the principles of Sanatana Dharma, thereby creating a unique spiritual framework for cross-cultural religious engagement. His Holiness remains a seminal figure in the global expansion of Hindu monasticism and interreligious dialogue.