Skanda Vale is a multi-faith ashram (or monastery) near Carmarthen in Wales. It was founded on pure Sanathana Dharma; the Timeless Consciousness of God, as taught by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. We believe that all religions stem from, and merge into the one Reality; God is One, though His forms are many.
The ashram was established here in Wales in 1973, though our roots can be traced back to Sri Lanka, for that is where our founder, Guru Sri Subramanium was born. You can find out more about the history of Skanda Vale here.
We have three temples; the Murugan Temple, the Maha Shakti Temple and the Sri Ranganatha Temple, and hold six pujas every single day of the year. Skanda Vale is the name of our organisation, whilst the people that live here are known collectively as the Community of the Many Names of God.
Nobody at Skanda Vale is paid. All Community members live here full time, and are entirely dependent on the Grace of God for all their daily needs. Skanda Vale is funded solely through voluntary, anonymous donations. We do not charge anyone for food, accommodation or services, and everything is offered completely free of charge. The Community is very self-sufficient, and completely independent from any religious or commercial organisations.
The vast majority of Community members live as ‘sannyasa’ – unmarried renunciants who have dedicated their lives to loving, serving and experiencing God through karma yoga and bhakti yoga. We take the Franciscan monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Senior monks are known as Swamis – they lead the higher forms of worship in the temples and take a more exacting form of vow.
Our work is of a routine and generally simple nature; cooking, cleaning and caring for an annual congregation of 90,000 pilgrims. An important area of our work is animal care. We have a large number of different animals, including Valli the Temple elephant, a herd of cows, buffalo, deer, goats, plus many birds, rabbits and dogs – many of whom have been rescued from slaughter or neglect.
One of our main areas of work is Skanda Vale Hospice, where we offer a high standard of personal care for people with life-threatening illnesses, completely free of charge. The Hospice is staffed entirely by volunteers, mostly from the Skanda Vale sisterhood.
Skanda Vale has been built with and is sustained only through the Community’s trust in, and love for God. We are here to help people of all faiths experience God – not just believe, but come to discover for themselves the freedom, peace and joy of living in the consciousness of the Divine.
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