in the Old Hall in 1948, where he lived from 1927 to 1950 The ashram gradually grew in its present location after Ramana Maharshi settled near the Samadhi shrine of his mother Alagammal, who died on 19 May 1922. From 1922 until his death in 1950, Ramana Maharshi lived at the ashram that developed around his mother's tomb. Initially, Ramana Maharshi would often walk from Skandashram to his mother's tomb. In December 1922, he did not return to Skandashram and settled at the base of the Hill, and Sri Ramanasramam started to develop. In the beginning, a single small hut was built near the
samadhi, but in 1924, two huts were erected – one opposite the
samadhi and the other to the north. The so-called Old Hall was built in 1928, where Ramana Maharshi lived until 1949. Sri Ramanasramam grew to include a library, hospital, post office, and many other facilities. Ramana Maharshi displayed a natural talent for planning and building projects. Annamalai Swami gave detailed accounts of this in his reminiscences. The Ramanasramam temple within the campus was designed and constructed by architect-cum-builder Vaidyanatha Sthapati between 1939 and 1949. He was a 36th-generation descendant of Kunjaramallan Rajaraja Perunthachan, the architect of the 11th-century
Brihadeeswara Temple in Thanjavur. During its decade-long construction period, Maharshi was deeply involved in the project. Amongst its early western visitors was British writer
Paul Brunton in 1931, who is credited with introducing
Ramana Maharshi to the West through his books "A Search in Secret India" (1934) and "The Secret Path". Writer
W. Somerset Maugham visited the ashram in 1938, and later used Ramana Maharshi as the model for the holy man, Shri Ganesha in his novel,
The Razor’s Edge (1944). Other visitors included
Swami Sivananda,
Paramahansa Yogananda,
Alfred Sorensen (Sunyata) and
Wei Wu Wei. During the
Indian independence movement,
Mahatma Gandhi would often encourage freedom fighters to visit the Ashram, including Dr
Rajendra Prasad,
Sarojini Naidu, and
Jamnalal Bajaj.
David Godman came to the ashram in 1976, remained the ashram librarian from 1978 to 1985, and has since written or edited fourteen books on topics related to Sri Ramana Maharshi. He continues to live near the ashram. Niranjananda Swami, younger brother of Ramana Maharshi, who had moved to the ashram along with his mother in 1916, stayed at the ashram for the rest of his life and handled its management till his death in 1953. His son, T.N. Venkatraman and grandson have looked after the ashram in turn. V.S. Ramanan remained the President of the ashram from 1994 to 2020; after that, his son Dr. Venkat Ramanan, a former medical practitioner and grand nephew of Ramana Maharishi, became the President. In 2023, marking the centenary of the establishment of the ashram on December 28, 1922,
The Hindu Group released new editions of books on Ramana Maharshi,
Who Am I and
Bhagvan Sri Ramana Maharshi, 1879-1950, this was part of the year-long celebrations at the ashram. To mark the centenary of the ashram (1922-2022), the
Government of India Mint released a commemorative coin in silver to "honour both the enduring spiritual influence of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi and the historic role of Sri Ramana Ashram." ==Gallery==