We work tirelessly to increase peace, happiness, and prosperity for all.
The Soma Matha Spiritual Center is a Hindu and Yogic teaching and practice center located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, near Charlottesville. Founded in 2005 by spiritual director Gananathamritananda Swamiji, the center focuses on teaching the Vedic sciences for spiritual realization and fostering personal peace, which leads to increased peace in society.
The Soma Matha performs Vedic rituals for the peace of the world and the upliftment of consciousness. We are working to open a Temple for Goddesss Banashankari and teaching center in the mountains near Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Soma Matha Spiritual Center serves as a sanctuary for sincere spiritual seekers and Hindu devotees from around the world. Our mission is to increase global peace by helping individuals find inner peace, preserve authentic Vedic teachings, and provide spiritual guidance to sincere seekers regardless of caste, creed, gender, nationality, or religious background.
Teachings and Practices
Soma Matha guides seekers toward a direct experience of the divine through the traditional knowledge of the Vedic sciences and practices.
The center provides teachings on subjects like Mantra, Tantra, Yantra, Puja, Homam, Yoga, Ayurveda, Vedic Astrology, and Vastu Shastra.
Vedic Sciences
We hold daily puja (worship) services and other traditional Vedic rituals, including yajnas. We are working too build a Temple for Goddess Banashankari to serve as a sacred space for these activities.
Rituals and Worship
The center also promotes awareness of Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of healing, and maintains an Ayurvedic botanical garden.
Ayurveda
Classes on mantra, meditation, and yoga are regularly offered to support students' spiritual journeys.
Meditation and Yoga
Locations and facilities
The main physical location, The Soma Matha House in Schuyler, Virginia, is a restored Victorian home opened in 2021. This interim space features a temple room for worship, guest rooms for Karma Yogis, and space for healing and meditation. Originally based in Richmond, the organization moved to its current location in the Blue Ridge Mountains in recent years. We occasionally host events at other locations.
Our Temple
We are maintaining a small shrine for the Goddess and fundraising to purchase land in the mountains of Virginia and build a traditional Agamic Hindu temple, dedicated to Goddess Durga in Her form of Banashankari (Goddess of the Forest). The Temple will be the first Temple constructed for Banashankari also called Shakambhari Devi (Provider of Nourishment) outside of India. It will become a uniquely powerful pilgrimage site for Hindus from around the world. The property will also be the home base for the Soma Matha Spiritual Center to continue work to teach the Vedic sciences.
Swamiji has had visions of the property in the Mountains in near Charlottesville, Virginia. The mountains have been identified by the Rishis as a particularly powerful place, with dense spiritual energy, especially conducive to supporting people's practice.