Governance
Kaivalyadhama Mumbai is registered as a Charitable Trust with charity Commissioner of Mumbai. It functions as a Yoga Center in Mumbai with daily practice sessions, classes, courses and workshops.
Arct. Shri. Suhas Bhatt
Managing Trustee
Adv. Shri. Nivit Srivastava
Trustee
Shri. Gaurav Mashruwala
Member
History
When the work of Swami Kuvalayanandaji to investigate the effects of Yoga in a scientific way became well known, more and more number of people started coming to the institute at Lonavla with a desire to learn Yoga for the purpose of health and healing. Many amongst them were from Mumbai. As their number grew, they requested Swamiji to open the branch of the institute in Mumbai itself.
In response to these requests the Mumbai branch of the Kaivalyadhama was started on the 6th January, 1932 at Santacruz.
Present Activities
Later on, for a greater convenience of the people, the Health Centre was shifted from the suburb to its present site on Marine Drive. It is registered as a charitable trust with the charity commissioner of Mumbai. The munificent donation received from Sir Chunilal Mehta, made it possible for the Health Centre to have its own building. In the memory of Sir Mehta’s son, it was renamed as Ishwardas Chunilal Yogic Health Centre, Kaivalyadhama was inaugurated as a full-fledge centre on 30th April, 1936.
Today, the activities of Kaivalyadhama Mumbai are guided by the board of trustees and implemented under the guidance of trustees with the Management team. It is a heritage building situated at Mumbai’s Marine Drive, sea face.
Dr. O. P. Tiwari
Dr. O. P. Tiwari is a student of Swami Kuvalyananda. One of the few masters teaching Pranayama practice with a classical technique, where the scientific outlook harmonizes with traditional wisdom. He is a humble man who does not try to prove anything, but with integrity, and sincerity passes on the practice of Yoga in the traditional way.
Dr. Om Prakash Tiwari was born in the town of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Etawah in the year 1933. His father was a lawyer but passed away early in 1940’s. Dr. Tiwari toiled his way hard to complete his education. He completed his double Masters in Art from the prestigious Allahabad University, In the year 1958 he landed up a government job, but at the same time he had an option to come to Kaivalyadhama Lonavala, where he was granted admission in the two-year course of Yoga Pravishta. He chose the latter, and rest is history.
Dr. Tiwari arrived at Kaivalyadhama in the year 1958 and spend time under the direct guidance of the founder Swami Kuvalayananda until 1966, when Swami ji passed away. In 1965, the founder nominated him to be the Secretary of the Trust Kaivalyadhama.
Passing away of the founder had left a great vacuum in the institute. Dr. Tiwari at the young age, steered the institute towards progress in research, training and therapy. The scientific research of the institute depended on a large scale, on the grants of the Government of India and Maharashtra, this continued due to his great dedication and devotion.
Dr. Tiwari carried the great legacy of the founder and represented the institute at various forums at national and international levels. He was instrumental in starting of the Yoga Camps all over India in early 1970’s, with the help of Ministry of Education. He was the face of Yoga in the SNIPES, the National Board that looked after sports and education. He was Chairman of the committee, which initiated the process of introduction of Yoga in Kendriya Vidyalaya Schools in early 80’s. Dr. Tiwari is the founder member of the Central Council of Research in Yoga and Naturopathy. He was deeply involved in the policy making in the Government.
While administration was important, on the other hand, he continued his teachings of the experiential aspect of Yoga in various course in the College. Since 1970’s he visited many countries to share his knowledge and experience of Yoga. In times to come, he became one of the most prominent teachers of Classical Pranayama. Since 1997 he devoted more time to teaching and had extensive tours to Japan, China, US, Canada, Europe and other continents.
Dr. Tiwari was appointed as the Chief Patron of the Indo-China Yoga School Established in Yunnan province, post the visit of the Hon’ble Prime Minister in 2015. He has been recipient of many awards and was conferred Honorary D Lit by the Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University.
Dr. Tiwari continues his teachings with all humility and simplicity, to contribute towards the society. His primary objective in life is to serve the vision of his teacher Swami Kuvalayananda and believes in ensuring that Yoga is not diluted.
He often quotes his teachers favorite lines
“ माना अपमाओ
यवेटि योगिनास्तौ विशमृते ! अपमानो मृतम प्रहरमनस्तु विषम विषम !
For a Yogi praise and insult are verily poison and nectar. The wise dealers that insult is nectar and praise the gravest poison.
Shri. Dinesh Panjwani
Prof. Dinesh Panjwani, the first Vice Chancellor of the Hyderabad Sind National Collegiate University (HSNCU), and Secretary of the H(S)NCB, is a pre-eminent educationist and administrator with vast experience in institution building of over 43 years. He has provided enlightened, motivational and progressive leadership to the Colleges that he headed as Principal – Smt. CHM College, Ulhasnagar (2000 to 2009) and RD National College (2009 to 2017). During his tenure, both the Colleges made substantial qualitative and quantitative progress in academics, sports, cultural activities, research and outreach programmes.
This was seen particularly in the rise in the enrolment of students, the marked improvement in results at all levels of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, the increase in the allotment of research funds to the faculty by statutory bodies of higher education like the UGC, DBT and DST among others, manifold increase in the number of teachers completing their PhD, establishment of research centres and the rise in international affiliations and exchange programmes with institutes of higher education in prestigious universities in the US. As Secretary of the HSNC Board 2017 onwards, he has been actively involved in the co-ordination of the establishment of HSNCU.
Prof. Dinesh Panjwani has been the Member of the Senate, Management Council (UoM), Member, Academic Council (UoM and YCMOU, Nashik), Member of Governing Body (NAAC, Bangalore), UGC Nominee as Chairperson/ Member Secretary/ Member on Expert/ Governing Committees for grant of Autonomy of Institutions and 2F and 12 B status and on Governing Bodies of several autonomous institutions, Member, IB Asia Pacific Regional Advisory Council.
Prof. Panjwani has conceptualised and implemented innovative programmes since the earliest years of his career at KC College. He has initiated outreach programmes like the Community Awareness and Assessment Survey Projects, Adult Education Programmes, Community Based Rehabilitation Programmes, Yoga Intern and Master Yoga Intern Programmes in the Colleges and the University of Mumbai.
He is committed to community orientation and the immense potential of the programmes of higher education to involve youth in outreach programmes so as to nurture the values of good citizenship and governance in them.
Shri. Subodh Tiwari
Shri. Subodh Tiwari was born in the yogic atmosphere of Kaivalyadhama Lonavala, and after attending school in this hill station, he got initiated into spiritual practices by Swami Digambar ji, the Chairman and Spiritual Head of Kaivalyadhama at that time. He was initiated into yogic practices at the age of 6 by his father, Dr. O. P. Tiwari, a disciple of Swami Kuvalayananda. In March 1997, he chose to dedicate his life to the institute and serve it.
Over the last two decades, he has been able to develop the institute’s foundations in order to realise the founder’s objective of ‘coordinate the spiritual phenomena of Yoga with Modern science’. He serves in numerous positions on committees related to policies, academics, and research in the subject of Yoga under the auspices of the Government of India, the Government of Maharashtra, and various universities.
Currently serving as the Honorary Secretary and CEO of the Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute, he staunchly believes that yoga transcends mere physical activity to encompass ‘being’ as well. He advocates for harmony with nature, discipline, dedication, and devotion in life as essential for meaningful living. His objective is to authentically enhance individuals’ lives through yoga practice while simultaneously elevating environmental quality through human endeavours.
He has travelled to various countries to conduct yoga seminars and has been invited to speak as a guest at numerous international conferences. His concern lies in safeguarding nature and promoting environmental enhancements. He enjoys spending time outdoors and pursuing his passion for photography.
Smt. Pushpa L. Mandke
Mrs. Pushpa Mandke has been working in Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute for the last 40 years. Mrs. Mandke has a sense of selfless dedication in herself, duty-fidelity, efficiency, equanimity towards all the workers & towards the organization.
She last served at the position of Administrative Officer. She had started her career as Assistant and with her dedication towards her work and Institute she has rose up to senior level and has been part of important projects at Kaivalyadham. Her loyalty, sincerity and commitment for the Institute is unparalleled. She is one of the Governing Body members of the Institute and always being there to guide all the subordinates for administrative requirements.
Prof. Rajan Welukar
Vice Chancellor of Atlas SkillTech University, Mumbai
Dr. Rajan Welukar is presently Vice Chancellor of Atlas SkillTech University, Mumbai from December 2021. He is an eminent academician, recently he was Vice Chancellor of AURO University , former vice-chancellor of the University of Mumbai, Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University and G H Raisoni University.
Mr. Welukar holds Master’s Degree and Ph. D in statistics. He has over 36 years of experience in the field of higher education, which includes teaching at the under-graduate and post-graduate levels, academic, administration, training and capacity building, community service and youth development. He had been serving as the Director of Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education (SIMSREE) from September 2009 to 2010. He served as the vice-chancellor of the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University, Nashik between 2004 and 2009. Earlier, he served as Senior Programme Officer and HRD Lead Officer to the Commonwealth Secretariat’s, Commonwealth Youth Programme, Asia Region. He was an Officer on Special Duty in the Higher and Technical Department of Government of Maharashtra and also served as Deputy Secretary (Education)to the Governor of Maharashtra between March 2002 and October 2003.
He has compiled and edited the book, Gandhi@150 which explores the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas in today’s world and the impact of his philosophy across a wide spectrum of areas such as religion, economics, science, education, the arts and health and development. Other books he has conceptualised and edited are “ Words of Wisdom” and “निर्भया एक आत्मचिंतन (Nirbhaya Ek Aattmachintan)”.
He has a passion to make a difference to the lives of students and learners through involvement as a policy and opinion leader, as well as actually implementing development initiatives, has made him a known higher educational professional.
Shri. Nishant Jain
Shri. Nishant is a yoga enthusiast and an entrepreneur who leads diverse businesses in the field of engineering, chemicals, consulting and training. He has been instrumental in growth and development of people and organizations through strategy building, innovation and creative thinking. He was recognized by the Economic Times as a “Promising Entrepreneur of India”, for being a leader in bringing disruptive change.
Shri. Nishant Jain is also the Project Director of “M. L. Pendse Centre for Cancer Survivors & Lifestyle Conditions” at Kaivalyadhama. He leads a simple life inspired by Yogic philosophy and is a passionate squash and football player.
Shri. Kartik Kesarkar
Shri. Kartik is a business leader, leadership consultant and coach with over two decades of experience in leading businesses and facilitating leadership development. He is passionate about helping individuals realise their true potential, by becoming a better version of themselves and in the process, also partnering organisations in achieving business success.
Kartik is currently the Business Director at BasilTree Consulting, a leadership consulting firm based in Mumbai. He is a travel enthusiast and enjoys exploring new places. He is an Engineer by qualification, with a Masters in Business Administration.
Shri. Ankit Bhandari
Currently based in Bangalore, Ankit is a Finance & Investments professional with over 12 years of experience. After running his own consulting firm in Dubai and managing India operations for a U.S. investment firm, he is now focused on working with social enterprises and not-for-profit organisations on their fundraising and organisational strategy.