Archive · 20 Sep 2026
Rakeshji Marks Sixty With Spiritual and Service Initiatives
Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji is a Jain spiritual teacher and philosophy scholar from Mumbai.
He began meditating when he was very young.
He later studied philosophy and wrote thousands of pages about an important Jain text.
He founded a mission that teaches spiritual ideas and helps people in many practical ways.
The mission runs centres around the world and supports hospitals, schools, children, women, animals and communities.
It says its work has reached millions of people, although these figures come from the mission itself.
Rakeshji’s sixtieth birthday will be celebrated at a large event in Mumbai.
The celebration will announce new spiritual and service projects, including health campaigns and a vow of service by young seekers.
Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji was born in Mumbai on 26 September 1966 and later earned a philosophy doctorate from the University of Mumbai.
He founded Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur, which now operates 136 centres across six continents.
The mission reports humanitarian work spanning health, education, animal care, environmental efforts and emergency relief.
Its Dharampur institutions include a 250-bed charitable hospital, a developing university and animal-care facilities with a no-euthanasia policy.
His sixtieth-year celebration, Aho Gurudev, will take place in Mumbai on 25 and 26 September, with about 12,000 attendees expected each day.
- Who
- Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji, founder of Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur, along with the mission’s followers and humanitarian organisations.
- What
- A profile of Rakeshji’s spiritual, scholarly and humanitarian work, together with plans for his sixtieth-year celebration.
- When
- The Aho Gurudev celebration is scheduled for 25 and 26 September; the mission’s year-long commemorative calendar will run through September 2027.
- Where
- The main celebration will be held at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, while the mission’s international headquarters is at Dharampur in South Gujarat.
- Why
- The celebration marks Rakeshji’s sixtieth year and will announce 60 initiatives, including spiritual projects and new health and service programmes.
- Birth
- Rakeshji was born in Mumbai on 26 September 1966.
- Education
- He earned an M.A. in Philosophy with a gold medal and received a doctorate from the University of Mumbai in 1998.
- Mission reach
- Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur operates 136 centres across six continents.
- Humanitarian arm
- Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care runs ten care programmes and has Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
- Dharampur hospital
- Shrimad Rajchandra Hospital and Research Centre has 250 beds and serves more than 500 villages.
- Celebration attendance
- About 12,000 people are expected on each day of Aho Gurudev, travelling from approximately 23 countries.
- Planned health campaigns
- The event will launch vision care and anaemia programmes, including screening and free spectacles for more than six million people.