Raghunandan S.
Researcher · Conservationist · Wildlife Filmmaker · Author · Educator · Healer · Yogi · Martial Artist · Cyclist · Rock Climber
A Life Measured in the Forest
The forests my great-grandfather lived and taught in were not a backdrop to my life — they were its teacher. Four generations ago, Haṭha Yogi Sri Sri Sri Veerananda Swamiji walked into the forests of southern Karnataka and spent decades in caves, in silence, in the earth itself. What he left behind became the ground on which Vanya Siri Trust stands.
I have spent my life documenting what lives in these forests and fighting to keep it safe. My documentary Village Leopards examines the fragile boundary between humans and wildlife; my research surveys, approved by the Karnataka Forest Department, map the biodiversity of Devarayanadurga State Forest.
I am an educator and a healer, carrying forward the classical Ayurvedic knowledge of my lineage — the Rasashala, the sacred alchemy, and a practice built over four generations and ten thousand patients. When I am not in the forest, you will find me climbing its boulders or cycling its hills. Conservation is not something I observe; it is how I live.
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Our goal is to leave behind a thriving ecosystem enriched by Vedic intelligence.”
— Raghunandan S., Vanya Siri Trust
Research, Films & Healing
Village Leopards
A gripping documentary by Raghunandan S. exploring the escalating conflict between humans and wildlife, focusing on leopards and sloth bears in rural India. Through real-life stories and stunning visuals, it highlights habitat loss and the plight of wildlife forced into human-dominated areas — and calls for sustainable coexistence.
About the FilmCentre for Wildlife Conservation & Research
Documenting plant, bird and mammal species in the heart of Devarayanadurga State Forest. His research surveys, approved by the Karnataka Forest Department, uncover the rich biodiversity of this ecologically significant landscape.
Explore CWCRThe Lineage of the Forest
Great-grandson of Haṭha Yogi Sri Sri Sri Veerananda Swamiji, he carries the classical Ayurvedic and yogic knowledge of his lineage forward — the Rasashala, the sacred alchemy of Rasa Mani, and a healing practice rooted in four generations of tradition.
Read Our StoryVanya Siri was founded on the conviction that the relationship between the forest and its people can be carried forward — that the same forests can be studied, protected, and drawn upon without being diminished.
Vanya — of the forest. Siri — wealth.
Not wealth taken from the forest, but the wealth that is the forest.
A Life in Many Disciplines
Explore the disciplines of Raghunandan S. — each a door into a different life of the same man.