A forest.
A garden.
A place to practise.

After searching for a right place in nature and away from the hustle of noise and pollution, in 2016 Mani Raman and his wife Savitri came to a small plot of forest land at the foothills of the Western Ghats with a clear intention: to teach yoga the way they had each received it, in depth, in silence, and in connection with the natural world. To see soil as a base and not as a property. To assist nature to receive and not to consume.

What began with a handful of volunteers staying in tents under thatched roofs has grown, over nearly a decade, into a residential campus with a working farm, a practice hall, a sattvic kitchen, and a resident teaching community. The way Mani Raman teaches has stayed the same throughout.

Vana in Sanskrit or Vanam in Tamil means forest. The name was not chosen lightly.