A campus built for serious practice. Cottages, glamping tents, and a practice hall open to the landscape – with a maximum of ten residential students.
Vana Farm began as a working farm in Kambam Valley. The residential space grew from it gradually – starting in 2016 with simple tents, and evolving over the years into cottages and glamping tents that respect the character of the land they stand on.
The campus accommodates a maximum of ten residential students, and up to twenty participants for day events. This is a deliberate limit. Yoga Vana Forest Academy is not a large conference centre. It is a small, intimate space where it is possible to know everyone by name.
The practice hall is an oxide-floored space open to the landscape – not enclosed from it. In the early morning, with the Western Ghats visible and the farm awake around you, the hall becomes something other than a room.
Before sunrise – Practice in the hall. The first session of the day begins in darkness and ends with light.
Brunch – The first meal of the day. Sattvic, farm-grown or locally sourced, eaten together.
Morning – Work, study, or rest. Farm activities, reading, personal practice, conversation with Mani Raman.
Afternoon – Philosophy sessions. Text study, discussion, the theoretical ground of what we practise.
Late afternoon – Asana or a walk. Sometimes both. The second major practice session of the day.
Early dinner – Light, early. In accordance with Ayurvedic timing and the natural rhythm of the day.
Evening – Meditation or chanting. The day closes as it opened – with quiet practice.
Silence – Longer retreats include periods of silence. The schedule creates the container; silence deepens it.
Mani Raman has been teaching yoga since 1998, rooted in the Sivananda tradition and shaped by decades of practice, study of Vedanta, and direct engagement with the texts. Teaching at Vana Farm is not an event he visits. It is where he lives and practises.
Savitri – his partner – co-designed the farm alongside him and manages the kitchen. Vana Farm is a home that receives students, not a resort with a resident teacher. The dogs, cats, and families who live there are part of the fabric of what it is.
Wifi is limited. Mobile reception varies. This is a feature, not a flaw.
The accommodation is comfortable and thoughtful. It is not five-star. The programme is demanding. It requires willingness to be uncomfortable and to go beyond the familiar.
We follow a traditional daily structure because it works. But questions are welcomed. Thinking is expected. Participants are treated as adults.
Vana Farm does not look like a curated retreat centre. It looks like a farm. The people here are interested in practice, not in photographing practice.
Vana Farm, Kambam Valley
Melagudalur, Tamilnadu – 625516. India