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Our history
The beginning
SKGA was founded by Mrs. V. Alamelu Ammal on August 25th, 1952.
'The Mother' as she soon was called, was born and raised in the town
Tanjore in Tamil Nadu, India.
When she and her Guru set out on a pilgrimage and came to
Kanyakumari on a visit in 1952, she started a home to care for the
most needy, homeless poor, particularly children.
The Mother and her guru were both 'Karma Yogis'. Which means that
they did not want any thing for themselves and were totally selfless in
their services to the poor. They did not want to own lands, buildings or
things. They wanted only to serve the needy.
The mother and her guru had a clear vision and philosophy of what
they had set out to do. Theirs was a new effort and the first of its kind Mrs. Alamelu Ammal, 1955.
and was child-centred. The system was based on the culture, tradition and the joint family system of India.
The aim was to help the most poor and parentless children to grow up normally as in a natural family, as
was possible in the ashram so that they could succeed in life when they left the ashram and live happily.
They thought that the gurukula as well as ashram concepts are best suited for this service. A ‘guru kula’
means the house of a guru or the tradition of a guru. From ancient times, a gurukula has been a place
where children go to live and study under a guru (preceptor/mentor). An ‘ashram’ is a place where people
of any age can come and live, meditate and lead a peaceful, spiritual life. An ashram is also refered to
as a house of peace.
From its inception, the ashram freely cared for poor, parentless and suffering infants and children, homeless,
destitute women and the helpless, aged infirm. No discrimination was practised. All services including long
term, total care of children, women and the aged were free of cost. Though there was a need to support
children, women and the aged infirm, from the beginning, the ashram restricted itself mainly to the care of
children.
In 1955, Mr. C. Sitharam, who also was a ‘Karma Yogi’, came to see the ashram and liked the work.
At the Invitation of The Mother, he stayed to help for the next 30 years. Coming from a noble family in
Andhra Pradesh, he was highly educated and spiritual. He led a very simple life and he guided the work of
the ashram from the early stages. He shared in all the struggles and tribulations in the formative years and
faced and surmounted difficulties, overcoming opposition in the early years from those who were not used to
this concept of service which was wide and open to all needy people. He firmly and quietly set out
principles, policies, methodologies and goals, and developed the ashram. Regarding the use of donations,
he used to say that one must think and act as if they had ‘the eyes of the donors’. Today this is still honored.
Under mother’s and Mr. Sitharam’s guidance and leadership, the ashram grew and developed. The
ashram faced daily struggles for survival, but by God’s Blessings and due to the steadfastness and the
purposefulness of the founder and her guru and the good support by donors, the ashram was able to
continue its services....
...From here SKGA has developed into its current form. Troughout the history of SKGA, donations of all
kinds have been given by individuals, organisations, companies, etc.. Who warmly supported the great
work in benefit of the needy children. If you want to read more about the history Click Here for Full History.
The Board - Three generations
After governmental registration of the Society (SKGA) 'The Board' also refered to as 'Managing Committee'
was formed. From here two generations have past, and today the third generation is in function.
The First Generation, The Board consisted of;
President and Chairman Mr. Saravana Panikkar, Secretary/Executive Head Mrs. V. Alamelu Ammal (The
Mother), the rest of the Governing Body consisted of Mr. Kandasamy Nadar, Mr. Bagavathy Perumal
Chettiar and several others from Nagercoil.
The Second Generation, The Board consisted of;
President and Chairman Mr. Sankara Iyer, Vice President Mr. Balakrishna Naidu, Secretary/Executive
Head Mr. A. Sivaramakrishnan (Son of The Mother), the rest of the Governing Body consisted of serveral
respected induviduals from Nagercoil.
The Thrid Generation, The Board consists of;
President and Chairman Er. Mr. S. Augustine, Vice President Miss V. Vasantha Kumari, Secretary/Executive
Head Er. Miss K. Subbammai, the rest of the Governing Body consists of Mr. A. Sivaramakrishnan, Dr. Miss
A. Vera, Mrs. D. Rajam, Mr. A. Sami kannu.
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