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Mahavatar Babaji: The Deathless Yogi of the Himalayas

Written and reviewed by The Kriya Yogi · Updated 25 September 2026

Mahavatar Babaji is the most famous yogi nobody can photograph. In the Kriya tradition he is an ageless master living in the Himalayas, who appeared to Lahiri Mahasaya in 1861 and restored a lost method of meditation. Almost everything we know about him comes from a single chapter-cluster of Autobiography of a Yogi and from the circle around Lahiri Mahasaya. That makes him a figure of faith rather than of history — and it is worth being clear about both.

The short answers

  • "Babaji" simply means "revered father"; "Mahavatar" (great avatar) is the title Yogananda gave him.
  • His best-known appearance is the initiation of Lahiri Mahasaya near Ranikhet in 1861.
  • The tradition describes him as living in a youthful body for centuries; this is not historically verifiable.
  • Several unrelated teachers are also called Babaji — including Haidakhan Babaji and the Babaji of Tamil Siddha lineages; they are often confused.
  • His recorded instruction to Lahiri Mahasaya was to teach Kriya to sincere householders, not only monks.

The 1861 meeting

In the story as Yogananda tells it, Lahiri Mahasaya was posted to Ranikhet and heard someone call his name on Drongiri hill. A young yogi led him to a cave, reminded him of a past life spent there, and initiated him into Kriya. When Lahiri Mahasaya offered to renounce the world and stay, Babaji refused: the whole point was for a householder to show that the path works in ordinary life.

What he is said to teach

Babaji leaves no books. What survives are sayings attributed to him by those he met. The steady themes are:

  • Kriya as a scientific method for turning attention inward through the breath and spine, which can be practised by anyone sincere.
  • Unity of religions. In the Autobiography he asks Sri Yukteswar to write a book showing the harmony between the Bible and the Hindu scriptures — the result was The Holy Science.
  • Devotion with discipline. Neither devotion nor technique is enough alone.

The confusion of Babajis

Because "Babaji" is a common honorific, many teachers carry the name. Haidakhan Babaji (who appeared in 1970 and died in 1984) is sometimes identified with Mahavatar Babaji by his followers; SRF and most Kriya lines do not accept this. Babaji's Kriya Yoga, founded by Marshall Govindan, traces itself through a Tamil Siddha account of a Babaji born in the 3rd century CE. These are different claims, from different communities, and it helps to know which one a book or website is talking about.

How to relate to him

You do not have to settle whether Babaji is a literal immortal to learn from his story. What it teaches is plain: the teacher comes when the student is ready, ordinary life is not an obstacle, and the practice is received rather than invented. For the tradition, that is what makes him the guru of the whole line.

Learning from his teaching

  1. Read the Babaji chapters

    Autobiography of a Yogi chapters 33–34 contain the core account. Read slowly, as scripture is read, not as a news report.

  2. Practise steady sitting

    Ten to twenty minutes each morning with the spine upright and attention resting at the point between the eyebrows, without forcing the breath.

  3. Keep the householder vow

    Treat your job and family as the field of practice, as Babaji asked of Lahiri Mahasaya.

  4. Let the longing grow

    The tradition says sincere yearning, not searching for the right website, is what draws the teacher.

Cautions worth reading

  • Kriya yoga in this lineage is given by initiation, in person, from an authorised teacher. This page describes the people and their teaching; it does not teach the initiatory techniques, and reconstructing them from books or videos is not the same thing and can be unsettling or harmful.
  • Be cautious of anyone claiming to channel Babaji or to offer his initiation for a fee without a clear, verifiable lineage.

History and devotion

There are no birth records, photographs or independent documents of Mahavatar Babaji. The accounts come from Lahiri Mahasaya's disciples, Sri Yukteswar and Yogananda, all of whom are reliable witnesses to their own experience but not neutral historians. The commonly shared drawing of Babaji was made under Yogananda's guidance; it is not a portrait from life.

Questions people ask

+ Is Mahavatar Babaji still alive?
The Kriya tradition teaches that he lives on in the Himalayas in a physical body. This is a matter of faith; there is no historical way to confirm it.
+ Where did Babaji meet Lahiri Mahasaya?
On Drongiri (Dunagiri) hill near Ranikhet, in what is now Uttarakhand, in 1861 according to the account.
+ Is Haidakhan Babaji the same as Mahavatar Babaji?
His followers often say so. Self-Realization Fellowship and most Kriya lineages do not accept the identification.
+ Is there a real photo of Babaji?
No. The well-known image is a drawing made under Yogananda's direction.

Sources

  • Paramahansa Yogananda, *Autobiography of a Yogi* (Philosophical Library, New York, 1946; later editions by Self-Realization Fellowship). Chapters 33–34.
  • Sri Yukteswar Giri, *The Holy Science* (1894), introduction — his account of meeting Babaji at the Kumbha Mela.
  • Marshall Govindan, *Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition* (1991) — the Tamil Siddha account, for comparison.

Dates and places are drawn from published biographies; stories of miracles are reported as the tradition tells them. Nothing here is medical advice.