Client: Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Coimbatore
Swami Dayananda Saraswati was a distinguished teacher of Advaita Vedanta and founder of the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam. Born in 1930, in Manjakudi, a small village in Tamil Nadu as Natarajan, he was consecrated by Swami Chinmayanandji as Swami Dayananda Saraswati in 1962. Later he became the Acharya of the Chinmaya Mission. He had initiated various study programmes, movements and conferences both in India and abroad to make people aware of their rich heritage and infuse a sense of value for Vedic tradition. The Arsha Vidya Gurukulam established by him at Anaikatti in Coimbatore, is patterned after the traditional gurukulams of India, and is attended by students from all over India and abroad.
The Trust invited Eka to document, plan and help convert the residence of Swami Dayananda Saraswati at Anaikatti into a memorial. The central premise of the memorial was to convert Swamiji’s former residence into a space, which would become a focal point for his followers from across the world that frequent the Gurukulam. The idea of the memorial was also in keeping with Swamiji’s wishes for his residence.