With inspiration from Swami Tejomayananda and guidance of Swami Brahmananda, the first Chinmaya Purohita Course got an auspicious start at Chinmaya Sandeepany, Chokkahalli, near Kolar (Karnataka). From 2005 to 2007, twenty-four trainees, ranging between sixteen to twenty years, studied the course.

The Purohita Course exposed all students to major rituals like homas conducted in the surrounding areas of the ashram. Celebrations of festivals such as MahaShivaratri, Janmashtami and Pratishtha Purnima celebrations enriched their learning during the Course. Praveen Puranik, presently serving as a Purohita at the Chinmaya Maruti Mandir described the Course as a wonderful experience adding that all the students at Chinmaya Sandeepany thoroughly enjoyed life at the ashram.

A second Course, held from 2007 to 2009 at Chokkahalli had twenty students. Four among them are working at Chinmaya Mission temples in India.

Chinmaya Purohita Course, Chinmaya Gardens, Coimbatore

The first Purohita Course at Coimbatore was inaugurated by Swami Tejomayananda on October 9, 2008, on the auspicious day of Vijaya Dasami. Twenty-seven students successfully completed the course. Of them, ten are serving at different Chinmaya Mission Centres like Colombo, Chinmaya Vibhooti, Navi Mumbai and so on.

The second Purohita Course inaugurated by Swamini Vimalananda was held from June 18, 2009 to December 17, 2010.

Chinmaya Purohita Course, Mandhana, Kanpur

On May 29, 2013, a new Purohita Course, with 25 students, was inaugurated by Swami Subodhananda at Vankhandeshwar Mahadev Temple in Mandhana, Kanpur. This Course, a first in North India, aims to become a major centre that will cover the Hindi heartland.