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Our Ashrams are located in 3 places in South India and one in London.

Lalitananda Ashram (Vadarevu, near Chirala), AP, India

Vadarevu Ashram is located on the east coast of India along the Bay of Bengal in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Chirala, a major railway station between Kolkata and Chennai, is about 8 kms from the Ashram. Buses run regularly from Chirala railway station.

This ashram was established by Lalitananda Swami about 70 years ago. Vadarevu Swami and PV Swami successively took care of the ashram. Suruli Arulananda Swami developed and expanded the Ashram with major renovations, addition of many temples, performance of regular hOmams, and initiating many charitable service activities.

The Ashram has temples for vallabha gaNapati, Adi parAshakti, danDapANi, shiva, and rAma, a gOshAla with many cows, yAgashAla, and a dining hall. Also, this ashram has a dispensary, vocational training centers, and residential buildings for visitors.

Ganapati temple: After the formation of Arulananda Trust, Lalitananda Swami appeared in Swamiji’s dream and asked him to build a powerful Ganapati temple that will be good for the devotees coming to the ashram. Swamiji had a vision of Vallabha Ganapati during his meditation. Accordingly, a Vallabha Ganapati temple was constructed. Ganapati statue was carved on stone obtained from Tiruvannamalai by sculptors in Mahabalipuram. Ashta Ganapathy Homam was performed and the Vallabha Ganapati moorti (statue) was installed following the Vedic rituals with a Kumbhabhishekam on completion. On the day of Kumbhabhishekam, after the vedic ceremony was over, a man in dirty white clothes appeared in the temple and spoke to one devotee in hindi. This devotee did not take him serious, then he spoke to Swamiji in tamil and asked if the Kumbhabhishekam was over and Swamiji acknowledged and asked him to have food. He spoke to few others in different languages such as English, Kannada, and Telugu. Then he went to the building and sat on Swamiji’s chair. He was playing with the bottles of siddha medical oils. One devotee of Swamiji saw this person and asked him what he was doing like a mad person. He replied, “if you think I am mad I will go” and as he was going down the stairs, Swamiji realized he is the elderly person who had given the mantra to him at Papanasam and sent a Laddu for him through another devotee. He accepted the Laddu and put it in his bag and walked up to the Ganapati temple. Then he disappeared from the sight of people. As per Lalitananda Swami’s wish, this Ganapati temple is now visited by devotees as well as the local villagers and when they fulfill their wishes, they perform poojas at this temple.

Dining room and Guest house: When the more people started coming to the ashram, a big dining room and a guest house was constructed for the devotees in the ashram in 2003. Visitors are fed nutritious and sattvic food everyday for free.

Sri Rama temple: In 2004, Sri Rama temple was built at the ashram. At the time of the Kumbhabhishekam of this temple, some devotees have seen two saints moving in and out of the ashram. They were not visible to everyone’s eyes.

Yaga Shala: As Lalitananda Swami was interested in performing homams, he appeared in Swamiji’s vision and asked him to build a yaga shala. A Yaga shala was built in 2003 according to vedic traditions. Ganapati homam is performed at this yaga shala daily.

Subramania Swami temple: Vadarevu Swami’s Samadhi was in a deteriorating condition. In the year 2004, as per devotees' request, the building was renovated and a Dandayudha Pani moorti (statue) was installed on Vadarevu Swami's Samadhi.

Daily activities in the ashram:

Monthly functions: Full moon day pooja to ambal, Sri Ram nachara pooja on punarpoosam

Annual functions: Maha Shivaratri, Sri Rama Navami, Sri Valli Kalyanam, Aradhana of Sri Vadarevu Swami and PV Swami (on the day which they attained samadhi), Guru purnima, birthday of Arulananda Swami, Navaratri, Aradhana of Lalitananda Swami are the main functions of the ashram.

Apart from all these programs, maintenance of Goshala (cow shed), Veda Pathasala and nitya annadanam for the devotees who visit the ashram are maintained by the Arulananda Trust. All visitors to the ashram are fed for free and can stay for free for a few days. To continue and extend these services, Swamiji decided to visit overseas. Swamiji first visited Germany in June 1998. Since then, annually he has been visiting Europe for 2-3 months to guide his disciples. Disciples and devotees from within India and various foreign countries have visited and stayed at the ashram. Within the last five years, overseas devotees' contributions have made a tremendous impact in expanding the service activities of the Ashram through the Arulananda Trust.

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Ananda Ashram (Chillakallu, near Vijayawada), AP, India

Chillakallu Ashram is established by Suruli Arulananda Swami and located on the national highway between Hyderabad and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, India.

During the initial days of Swamiji at Chirala in the early 1990's, he treated a patient from Hyderabad who was suffering from leukemia. Upon their request, he started visiting Hyderabad twice a month to see the devotees there. One day when Swamiji was traveling to Hyderabad, they stopped at a place, called Chillakallu, to have their lunch in the afternoon. A small boy, who was apparently dumb, approached Swamiji and asked if he could have some food. Swamiji asked the people who were traveling with him to provide him with some food. When he was served, the little boy consumed all the food the group had brought for their journey. After eating, he gave Swamiji twenty five paisa (a quarter), crossed the road, and started across a piece of land and at a certain spot he disappeared. That night, Agastya Maharishi appeared in Swamiji’s dream and said to him, "I came to you today but you did not recognize me; I want you to establish a center at that spot and perform medical and public service to the society." In 1994, Arulananda Trust has purchased 7 acres of land, at the spot where the little boy disappeared in Chillakalu.

Following this, when Swamiji went to Papanasam Kalyana Teertham Shiva temple in 1996, he had a vision of Agastya Maharishi. When Swamiji asked about the state of the land in Chillakallu, Agastya Maharishi asked him to wait for 4 years before starting any work. In 2000, when Swamiji visited Suruli hills, the old man with a stick appeared again to Swamiji and said "now the four years is over, you can start the work at Chillakkalu, that is not a place for worship, it will be a centre for treating patients and serving humanity." Accordingly, Swamiji started filling the land in Chillakkalu in preparation for the building construction. In 2006, a building with a dining room on the ground floor and 20 rooms on the first floor and a guest house with six rooms were completed. Swamiji’s building and residence buildings for staff at the centre are under construction.

Future proposal

A siddha ayurvedic research unit with facilities for meditation, yoga, therapy, laboratory and pancha karma treatment is being planned. It is envisaged that people can visit this center on weekend retreats and have relaxation for the mind and soul with yoga, meditation, and other siddha medicine treatment facilities. An out-patient clinic has also been planned for construction. This research center is estimated to cost Rs. 1 billion (US$23 million).^ TOP

Pasumalai Ashram (near Tiruvannamalai), TN, India

Pasumalai Ashram was established by Lalitananda Swami and is near Melolakkur, in Sengi Taluka, South Arcot District near Tiruvannamalai. Lalitananda Swami's samAdhi is located here.

In 1993, Swamiji visited the Pasumalai ashram with his devotees according to Lalitananda Swami’s instructions. Swamiji performed a pooja and donated some amount for the maintenance of the ashram. After Swamiji returned to Vadarevu, the villagers and the Panchayat president of Pasumalai visited Swamiji at Vadarevu and asked him to help develop Pasumalai village and help with children’s education etc. Swamiji was invited by this group of villagers. When Swamiji visited Pasumalai next time, they welcomed him at the entrance of the village with traditional music and a procession of villagers. The procession ended at the Pasumalai ashram and a public meeting was convened. The headmaster of the local school and the Panchayat president requested Swamiji to develop the facilities at the local school and also start a secondary school for local children as there were no facilities for secondary education in the local village. At that time, children aspiring secondary education traveled 10km to the nearest school. Within two years of this request, Arulananda Trust paid more than 150,000 rupees lawfully to the government to upgrade the local school to higher secondary level. Since there were no teachers at this school, the Trust appointed teachers who were able to teach at primary and secondary level. Arulananda Trust also inaugurated a vocational training center to teach sewing and typing for poor women in the Pasumalai village. When women completed sewing courses, they were given sewing machines for livelihood. Arulanada Trust also provides financial help for poor students for their higher education. Some sick people in the area receive aid from the Trust for their health needs. Arulananda Trust maintains the Pasumalai ashram and has also constructed a building called “Sri Valli Nilayam” for the purpose of feeding people and also constructed a guest house for pilgrims visiting Pasumalai.

Looking at the developments of this Pasumalai village, several other local villagers in the surrounding areas have approached Swamiji and requested help to renovate old temples. Swamiji has helped for the renovation of Ambal temples, Ganapathy temples and Subramania Swami temples in the local vicinity and celebrated Kumbabeshekam as well. Lalitananda Swami used to visit a nearby village, called Thanial, at the beginning of his spiritual life. He visited a Chelli Ambal temple in Thanial and asked the villagers to dig the ground at a particular spot and they excavated a lingam from underground. This Lingam was installed in front of the ambal temple. Following this resurrection, Lalitananda Swami performed a “Mahachandi homam” for forty eight days, which was attended by people from all walks of life such as cine actors, politicians, the rich, and the poor. Almost ten thousand people were fed daily during this homam. During this period, Ambal has appeared to Lalitananda Swami and also to several devotees participating in the homam in different forms.

At this period, Lalitananda Swami installed a Subramania Swami statue and constructed a temple in the local Shiva temple in Thanial for the benefit of the villagers. After the homam was over, Sri Shanmuga Mudaliyar, his relatives, and the villagers convened a meeting and asked Lalitananda Swami to remain in Thanial. Lalitananda Swami had then told them that whenever he visits Pasumalai, he will visit Thanial. He also said that another saint from the Yogar family will come and renovate these temples and develop the villages around here. This story was relayed to Sri Arumugam by late Shanmuga Mudaliyar.

In 2002, when Swamiji was visiting Pasumalai, a group of Lalitananda Swami’s devotees from Thanial visited Swamiji and requested him to renovate their Ambal and Shiva temples. The renovation of these temples is nearing completion in 2007.

In 2003, in recognition of Swamiji’s social services to Pasumalai and surrounding villages, a meeting was convened by the district collector and the district education officers and others at the high school of Melolakoor village near Pasumalai ashram.

Arulananda Swami developed Lalitananda ashram in Vadarevu through Arulananda Trust by donations received from the devotees and the public who visited the ashram. While this ashram was developing rapidly, Lalithananda Swami asked Swamiji to help maintain the Pasumalai Samadhi temple. Swamiji visited the Pasumalai Samadhi temple with a group of devotees and decided to help with the maintenance through the Trust. The secretary of the Trust Sri Krishna Rao directed Sri Subramania Sharma of Chirala to look after the maintenance of the Samadhi temple, which happens until date. Arulananda trust is interested in further developing the Pasumali Samadhi temple.

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Sri Yoga Hanuman Ashram (London , UK)

Swamiji’s devotees had a meeting in London and wanted to setup a charitable trust in the United Kingdom to promote the aims and objectives of Arulananda Trust. Sri Yoga hanuman charitable trust was registered as a charity in April 2005. Arulananda Swami visits this Ashram once a year for 3-4 months. Many devotees, disciples, and other people with general interest in Hinduism in the UK benefit from Swamiji's spiritual guidance and benefit from learning religious practices and pUjas. Swamiji also trains people interested in learning yoga and meditation.

Swamiji is well-renowned as a Sidha medical practitioner in South India. He has cured several illnesses, including leukemia, using this ancient traditional medicine. Some British disciples with Diabetes and Spine-related problems have particularly benefited from this alternative medicine. Doctors and researchers who are interested in alternative medical systems are welcome to discuss the scientific basis of the use of Siddha medicines with Swamiji.

While Swamiji is in India, devotees in the London ashram hold weekly group discussions on various spiritual topics. Several British disciples have visited Swamiji's ashrams, the siddha research labs, and various charitable projects in the ashrams. Some of them accompanied Swamiji on spiritual pilgrimage to various puNya tIrthas and Swamiji's taposthAnam near suruLi.

Plans are underway to extend the activities of the ashram to organize regular yoga and meditation classes, bhajans, and a Siddha medical center for the benefit of the devotees and public who wish to utilise these services throughout the year. In Swamiji's absence, well-trained siddha practitioners from the Indian ashrams will run the siddha medica center under Swamiji's guidance.

In the near future, the London ashram hopes to secure a permanent place of worship to perform various daily pUjas and a meditation hall for British Hindus. Various cultural activities, like music and dance, will also be conducted by volunteers. All these services will rendered free of charge to the public and any contribution from devotees, disciples, and the public will help in establishing the activities of this ashram. Government of India has given specific permission to Arulananda Trust to only receive overseas funds from Sri Yoga Hanuman Charitable trust, UK. Overseas devotees who wish to contribute to the Arulananda Trust in India can send their remittance through Sri Yoga hanuman charitable trust.