Sri Ramana Maharshi Ashram

After Ramana Maharshi relocated near the Samadhi shrine of his mother Alagammal, who died on May 19, 1922, the ashram gradually developed in its current position. At first, only a single tiny cabin was constructed. By 1924, two cottages had been built, one directly across from the samadhi and the other to the north. In 1931, British writer Paul Brunton, who is credited with introducing Ramana Maharshi to the West through his books "A Search in Secret India" (1934) and "The Secret Path," was one of the first western visits. In 1938, writer W. Somerset Maugham visited the ashram, and in his novel The Razor's Edge, he utilised Ramana Maharshi as the model for the holy figure Shri Ganesha (1944). Swami Sivananda, Paramahansa Yogananda, Alfred Sorensen (Sunyata), and Wei Wu Wei were among the other guests. Arthur Osborne lived in the Ashram for twenty years, editing The Mountain Path, the Ashram's journal, and writing numerous books about Ramana Maharshi and his teachings. In 1949, Mouni Sadhu stayed to the Ashram for many months. [6] David Godman arrived to the ashram in 1976 and has subsequently authored or edited fourteen volumes on Sri Ramana Maharshi's life and teachings. He continues to live in the vicinity of the ashram. Niranjananda Swami, Ramana Maharshi's younger brother, who had relocated to the ashram with his mother in 1916, stayed and managed the ashram for the remainder of his life. His son and grandson have taken turns looking after the ashram.