Shivagiri mutt

Narayana Gurudev moved to Varkala and chose for his residence a neglected hill at the side of the canal.

This place, in due course, developed into the site of the Sarada Temple and the Guru called his new residence Shivagiri. Here, he established an architecture was simple and different. For the first time in India, a temple with windows and ventilation was devised.

The Guru installed a deity which was traditionally symbolic and aesthetically perfect. The highest standards of hygiene were introduced to maintain the place as a modal to other temples and temple worshippers.

The opening of this temple was uniquely marked by the inspirational ceremony of guest of hymns in praise of the mother Sarada. The Guru himself wrote “janani-navaratna Manjari” …… nine Gems in praise of the mother.”………. when Shivagiri became crowded by pilgrims and young enthusiasts, he moved away, first to Tamilnadu and then to Alwaye.

He stayed in th mutts and Adhinams in these places and helped his devotees and disciples in Tamilnadu. “A new enlightened generation” The shivagiri mutt in Varkala, where he lived, was like a center of the new age to which social reformers, freedom fighters, educationalists, thinkers, writers, and inspiration.

The Guru took into this fold several people from the lowest stratum of society and gave them education and taught them a clean way of life.

His method of fighting social malignancies such as caste observance and segregation was through taking positive measures like fostering socially healthy and dynamic people who were fearless and who could stand on their own feet both financially and morally. He made the poorest of the poor self-confident, self-respecting and industrious.

For those who had been denied opportunities for over a millennium, he opened new temples to show them the light of life, new schools to make them articulate, and industrial houses to help them become dexterous. He created a new enlightened generation………… who could live without asking for, thinking of , or telling of caste.