Varkala

Sankarananda Swami

Sankarananda Swami was named by his parents as Sankaran. Disillusioned by his family life Sankaran left the house and traveled to different holy places in South India. After staying at Ramana Maharshi's Thiruvanna malai for a brief period he came to Palakkad (formerly Palghat) and stayed at Brahmananda Shiva Yogi's ashram.

After some time he went back to his native place and started to live there. When he heard about the Guru and his social activities he decided to see him and visited him at Peringottukara ashram. He explained about his mental dilemma to the Guru. The Guru sent him back with some enlightening advices but he returned to with a plan to join the Ashram.

The Guru welcomed him and later accepted him as his sanyasin disciple with a new name ‘Sankarananda.' He served as the administrator of the Adwait Ashram for a long time. Later he became the head of Sivagiri Mutt. He showed great interest in collecting and publishing the Guru's works. Two periodicals, ‘Navajeevan' and ‘Sivagiri' were published during his time.

Atmananda Swami

Mambalam Vidyananda Swami