Evicted (at last!) Debt-ridden guru is ousted from £3m castle Self-styled mystic has finally left Glenborrodale Castle on the Ardnamurchan peninsula Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport By Craig Mcdonald For The Mail On Sunday Published: 20:24 BST, 24 August 2024 | Updated: 20:28 BST, 24 August 2024 e-mail View comments It is the stunning Highland castle bought only two years ago by a self-styled mystic who planned to turn it into a luxury retreat. However, ‘Shanti’ Mark Koppikar’s dream of establishing a haven on one of Scotland’s most remote peninsulas lies in tatters - and under a pile of debt - with him and his followers evicted, and the castle up for sale at a knockdown price of £2.35million.
Mr Koppikar, who describes himself as a ‘Shanti’, or peace bringer, bought Category A listed Glenborrodale Castle, on Ardnamurchan, for £3.75million in 2022 to use as a home and centre for ‘reflection’. But he soon ran into financial problems, and administrators were called in last year to try to claw back sums of money owed.
Mr Koppikar, dubbed the Guru of Glenborrodale, and known for his fondness for fast cars and designer clothes, has now been formally evicted from the castle along with his entourage after refusing to vacate the premises voluntarily with the five-storey mansion placed on the market. Mark Koppikar, the self-styled Guru of Glenborrodale We can also disclose that it was left in such as mess that an ‘extended period of cleaning and remedial work’ was required within the castle and its grounds in order to get it into a ‘condition to maximise the sale price’. Despite this, documents also show that a ‘statement of affairs’ this year estimated the ‘realisable value’ of Glenborrodale at £3.
9million, with the offers-over sale price a stunning £1.5million under this. Selling agents Savills describe Glenborrodale as an ‘outstanding, historic coastal castle with spectacular views’.
Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport Advertisement They list the ‘highlights’ of the sale as a ‘16 principal bedroom Castle with additional staff accommodation, two Islands with the property, a boathouse and jetty, and gate lodge’. Savills state: ‘The impressive A-listed Castle is understood to date from 1902 and is a Scots Baronial mansion built of red Dumfriesshire sandstone. ‘The entrance sits high above ground level.
.. with superb, panoramic views of the islands of Risga, Carna and Oronsay and the Morvern Hills.
‘A curved flight of stairs descends to garden terraces below, which has ample helicopter landing space.’ Mr Koppikar hosted a community of followers and offered ‘satsangs’, a form of spiritual instruction, from his five storey castle, with a series of two-and-a-half hour sessions advertised this year at £32 a time. He teaches his followers how to live happier lives - with or without money - and fulfil their potential.
The former shamanic healer became embroiled in a failed battle to keep the castle, which stands in 133 acres, with his ‘ashram’, or spiritual retreat, when it emerged it was at the centre of debts of just under £3million to a company, Rain Dance Investments, which holds ‘security’ over the property. Administrator David McGinniss said: ‘I entered into an agreement with the ocupants whereby they would depart the castle voluntarily on a mutually agreed date of April 1. The stunning 16-bedroom Glenborrodale Castle ‘The occupants failed to depart voluntarily and I obtained an order for ejection of the occupants from the castle.
'The order was enforced and I now have vacant possession of the castle.’ We told previously how Mr Koppikar, who describes himself as a Christian Hindu mystic, drove a Maserati sports car and favours designer clothes from luxury brand Versace. He said he was initiated into Central American shamanism in 1997, describing this as having a ‘deep transformative effect’ and worked as a shamanic healer before establishing a centre of holistic psychology in Germany in 2009.
Speaking to The Scottish Mail on Sunday in 2022, he said: ‘It is just a concept that spiritual people should be poor. 'I was poor a long time. I saw one can be totally happy without money but I had a question in my head: “Is it possible to be totally happy with money?” ‘I want to prove you can be happy with or without money.
’ One nine-day retreat at the castle last year, entitled Freedom and Abundance, cost £3,600. Born to an Indian father and German mother, Mr Koppikar trained as a banker before studying psychology. Share or comment on this article: Evicted (at last!) Debt-ridden guru is ousted from £3m castle e-mail Add comment.
