Background
Chandana was born into a Kataria family in the Chaskaman village of Maharashtra on 26 January 1937. Her mother, Prem Kuwar, and father, Manikchand named her Shakuntala.
Chandana was born into a Kataria family in the Chaskaman village of Maharashtra on 26 January 1937. Her mother, Prem Kuwar, and father, Manikchand named her Shakuntala.
She belongs to the Amarmuni Sampradaya which, as of 2013, is the only monastic lineage to promote a nun to the rank of Acharya. In 1972, she began her humanitarian work in a poverty-stricken area in the state of Bihar, India. She founded Veerayatan - a non-profit, non-governmental service organization which as of 2013 has centers in more than ten countries.
A biopic Never Before has also been made to commemorate her life.
She took formal education till class 3rd in Chaskaman. She contended that relieving suffering in others was a form of spirituality.
In 1998, Chandana traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, where she offered the opening prayer at the National Federation of Asian Indians of North America convention and was honoured for her contributions to peace. Veerayatan, founded by Chandana in 1974 in Bihar, is an international charitable organization which seeks to created social transformation among impoverished people through spiritual development, quality education and service to others without discriminating against caste, creed, race or gender.
Veerayatan operates hospitals, schools, colleges, and vocational training programs for the underprivileged throughout India.
lieutenant initiated emergency relief camps and rehabilitation programs in the aftermath of the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat, the tsunami in 2004, during the Surat floods in 2006 and the Kosi river floods in 2008. Chandana is also an artist. She has set up a museum named Shri Brahmi-Kalamandiram in Bihar which houses her artifacts and other creations.
She also traveled abroad to support the creation of a museum at the Leicester Jain center in the United Kingdom.
Chandana has begun work on a project named Divine World in the pilgrimage city of Palitana, expounding the message of Tirthankara. Recognition and