Acarya Rudreshvaranandaji was initiated in Vientiane, Laos in 1975 by Dada Savitanandaji, and became LFT very soon thereafter. He attended the WT training in the first batch in Sweden and graduated in the summer of 1976. In 30 years as whole time of Ananda Marga, Dadaji worked in Berlin Sector and New York Sector, but it was in Nairobi sector that he spent most of his years as an Acarya. Dadaji was the pioneer of Ananda Marga in many African countries, and visited more than 40 African countries, starting in Congo. From the mid eighties Dadaji concentrated on AMURT work, and started our long term efforts in Burkina Faso. In total he spent about 15 years in Burkina Faso concentrating his energies in the remote desert communities in Oudalan province, with his headquarters in Deou. In this area Dadaji made a profound impact on the communities, and was known and loved throughout dozens of villages. The programs that AMURT has undertaken with Dadaji's guidance include wells, cereal banks, literacy drives, reforestation, road construction, cooperatives, training of health promoters, and most recently safe motherhood programs and training of midwives. He also founded the Ananda Marga master unit in southern Burkina Faso in the village of Bisseri. Here the activities include literacy drive, dispensary and cereal banks and farming. Dadaji was a great personality in Ananda Marga. He has been a pioneer and example in pracar in remote areas, and also in working with poor and neglected on a grassroots level for true community development. He was a dynamic pracaraka who created a large number of Margiis, LFTs and WTs. His absence will be deeply felt. He can never be replaced.

You may read or add your own memories of Dadaji below in the comments.

You can read an indept article written by Dada Rudreshvarananda himself about his experiences in Africa HERE




Local Residents of Deou share stories of how dada helped them.

You can see more photos from the memorial here