In December 1995, a group of about 30 eminent citizens of Allahabad voiced concerns over India's fast growing population of elderly people. Solution to the problem seemed to lie in empowering them through a specially designed education curriculum to take care of the added 25-30 years of post-retirement life. Taking note of the fact that there was not a single educational institution for the elderly in India, a Third Age Institute was set up with its Headquarters in Chinmaya Naveen Seva Ashram Nyas (CNSAN) under the banner of Chinmaya Mission.

The institute was named as Chinmaya Vanaprastha Sansthan (CVS) - ‘Vanaprastha’ standing for the third stage of life and ‘Sansthan’ for institute. Developed by Swami Shankarananda, as the first ever educational course for the elderly in India, Vridhavastha Samadhan Shivir was inaugurated at Allahabad on 11 August, 1996. It was a national, residential camp, attended by 43 delegates from different parts of the country. In 1998, CVS formally came under the Central Chinmaya Mission Trust (CCMT), the apex body of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide and it now operates nationally as a wing of CCMT for senior citizens under the name - Central Chinmaya Vanaprastha Sansthan (CCVS).