We are a small, alternative, holistic, environmental, multi-cultural, equality-minded, community based, Farm School!
As of 2020, Marudam is a host to some 130 children between the ages of 4 and 16 years; about 30 teachers and staff in different capacity; roughly 20 residents; numerous dogs, cats, cows, chickens; and a rich, diverse and ever growing wild-life population of all kind.
Located on an organic farm and spread over 12 acres, land is something we take rather seriously, care for, and constantly engage with as a rich, real-life, educational resource, integral to the learning process. The same considerations informs the way we build: as simple, environmentally conscious and cost-effective as we manage under the government regulations, with artistic expression and a rustic, close to earth aesthetic.
Being an immensely diverse group, originating from extreme cultural and social backgrounds, the richness of integration is a key element in our ethos. Working and learning closely together in such an environment, with very little formal structure and as minimal hierarchy, can be greatly challenging at times. At the same time it is also endlessly enthralling and deeply rewarding and never ever boring!
The school began as Thiruvannamalai Learning Centre in 2009, on a rented campus. TLC, as it was popularly referred to, had a wondrous start with 20 students. In June 2011, after two years crammed with explorations and discoveries, we shifted to our newly built campus here and, after countless deliberations, renamed ourselves Marudam Farm School.
The journey of the school, the campus and the land are the result of the passion and energy of several committed individuals and the generous support of a large community of friends and donors from all over the world.
Marudam Farm School runs under the umbrella of The Forest Way – a registered non-profit charitable trust involved in education, afforestation, environmental education, organic farming and more. Marudam Farm School receives no funding from the government and is registered under the rules & regulations in force in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
