The story
Why this place
Arunachala
Arunachala is one of the oldest and most revered sacred sites in southern India, a granite mountain that rises from the plain of Tamil Nadu at Tiruvannamalai, worshipped for many centuries as the manifestation of Lord Shiva in the form of fire — the agni lingam.
Our land lies on the western side of the mountain, near the Aadhi Annamalai Temple. The Aadhi Annamalai is older than the great Shiva temple in the town, and the western side of Arunachala has long been associated with the siddha tradition — those who withdraw from the world to be in the presence of God. It is a quieter side of the mountain than the eastern, town-facing side.
The connection between Skanda Vale and Arunachala is not new. It was felt by our founder, Guru Sri Subramanium, many years before this project began.
Swami Suryananda
Some years ago, in the middle of a Sunday discourse, Guru stood up and told everyone in the temple that the Lord had just told him Skanda Vale was renamed Arunachala. It was a shock to us — it came from nowhere. Guru had never mentioned this. After the puja I asked him whether he wanted us to change the name, and he said no, no, it would just happen. It would unfold.
That has stayed with me. I think what the Lord was saying is that Skanda Vale is, in some way, the place where Shiva manifests in the form of fire — the agni lingam — and that there is a connection between our community and this mountain. Guru Sri Subramanium is the energy of Shiva, and that energy first manifested at Skanda Vale in the Lord Murugan temple. Arunachala is the mountain where that same energy lives in its primal form.
When I first went to Arunachala in 2015, I had a prayer that I should take a lingam to the top of the mountain and have it consecrated there, then bring it back to be placed at Skanda Vale. I didn't take one with me. I said to the Lord, if this is your will, may you provide it. The day before the climb, devotees I had never met gave me a gift of two lingams. It felt like a confirmation. We carried them to the summit at midnight, did the puja in deep mist and a strong wind, and brought them back. One is in the kalasam of the Murugan temple at Skanda Vale now. The other is at our Somaskanda temple in Switzerland.
All of this is to say that the connection between Skanda Vale and Arunachala goes back a long way, and it isn't something we set in motion ourselves. It feels like one of Guru's sankalpas — a seed planted years ago, slowly unfolding. The retreat house is part of that.
In pictures
The nature of God is in the elements. The mountains, the rivers, the sun.
Guru Sri Subramanium · Bern, 1992
What we are building now is small in scale and slow in pace. It is for those who feel the connection and want to spend time in the presence of the mountain.
More of Guru's life and teachings at gurusrisubramanium.com.