Swami Dayananda Saraswati brought Arsha Vidya Gurukulam into being by envisioning a modern expression of the ancient gurukula, dedicated to Advaita Vedānta, Sanskrit, and related disciplines. He perceived a gap between the living Hindu tradition and the needs of contemporary, educated seekers, and sought to create a residential setting where śāstra could be studied in depth under a traditional teacher. This vision took concrete form when, after many years of teaching in India and abroad, he gathered a circle of committed students and supporters who shared his purpose. With their help, land was acquired in the foothills near Anaikatti, and Arsha Vidya Gurukulam was formally established there as a principal residential center.

From the outset, the institution was organized as a non-profit educational and spiritual center, sustained by donations from devotees, students, and well‑wishers. Its life was patterned on the traditional gurukula rhythm: a structured daily routine of classes, meditation, Vedic chanting, and worship, supported by simple community living. Within this framework, Swami Dayananda instituted long‑term residential courses, often spanning several years, that offered systematic study of Sanskrit, the Upaniṣads, the Bhagavad Gītā, the Brahma Sūtra, and important ancillary texts, along with chanting and grammar. The curriculum was carefully sequenced so that even those without a background in Sanskrit or Indian culture could gradually enter into the depth of the teaching.

A defining feature of his work was the insistence on sampradāya, the traditional lineage‑based methodology of Advaita Vedānta. The gurukulam was not merely a place for personal spiritual growth, but was consciously shaped as a teacher‑training center. Many residential students were trained to become competent teachers and, in some cases, sannyāsins, capable of transmitting the tradition faithfully. These disciples were then encouraged to teach independently and to establish affiliated centers, extending the reach of Arsha Vidya while preserving its ethos.

Over time, this approach led to the emergence of sister Arsha Vidya centers in different locations, including Rishikesh in India and Saylorsburg in the United States. Though independently administered, they shared the same commitment to traditional methodology, residential study, and the ideal of “Arsha Vidya” – knowledge that flows from the ṛṣis. The gurukulam also became a base for recording and publishing Swami Dayananda’s teachings, so that books, transcripts, and recordings could carry the instruction beyond those physically present. Through this blend of traditional gurukula life, rigorous pedagogy, and the deliberate formation of teachers, Arsha Vidya Gurukulam emerged as a significant institutional embodiment of the Vedānta sampradāya in a contemporary setting.