The Story of Gujarat Ashram By Art Of Living Gujarat Ashram :: In Pujya Guruji’s own words, “Bangalore Ashram is my office, German Ashram is my home, and Gujarat Ashram is my Meditation place”. On a balmy spring morning the head honchos of AOL Gujarat got into a huddle. Mahipal Dalal, P.D. Vaghela (erstwhile Collector of Anand District), Mehul Parikh and Nitin Limaye were prospecting for golden land to build a gurukul, an ashrama. 2 seasons went by. Finally in autumn when nature sheds to renew itself, the Lord said YES to a pear shaped tract on the serene banks of the Mahi river. It was 1996. History was to be made. The art of living devotees in Gujarat came alive…superb teamwork, structured networking and intense passion bore fruit. The Lord performed Bhumi Puja in Feb 2000, officiated by Ganapatiji and Sunder Murthy Shivam. 5 bricks, Nanda, Bhadra, Jaya, Rikta and Purna marked the beginning with the Lord’s own hands. Raju Adnani, Prasoon, Swami Swatantaranandji amongst others graced the occasion. Adobe bamboo and khusha grass yoga and meditation hall for participants facing east made the first appearance. Shakti Kutir atop the jutting mesa powered by amdavadi team skills and annapurna bhavan kitchen in south east followed. The lord deputed Maulik and Gopal immediately after Navratri 2002 from Bangalore Ashram. That marked the induction of seam in the activity and in Dec 2002 the first advance course was conducted by Rishi Vidhyadharji. The Lord himself visited in Nov 2002 and gave shape and direction. Dormitories, amphitheatre, administration building and deluxe cottages were completed in the span of 2003 to 2005. Nestled in anklawadi village, the village folk came to help and gave their whole hearted support, becoming members of our kitchen, gardening and maintenance teams. Anand, Baroda and Ahmedabad opened the innings with stalwarts like Yogesh & Kalpana Patel, Haresh Thakkar, Kartik Shah, Sangita Patel, Aniruddha Desai and Dada’s own players. Surat’s Bakul Patel and Falguni Nanavati gave the middle order strength, Rajkot chipped in to make an imposing and long standing edifice. Finally with the paint still wet, the tarmac still fresh, Guruji came to spend a grand week from 28 Jan to 4 Feb 2005, and stay in his own beloved shakti kutir villa sloping 120 feet above the Mahi river. Our breeding bull rudra was born then and baptized by the Lord himself. Goshala had only two cows including Lakhan, Rudra’s mother. A deluge of courses followed, guru puja by Bhanu Didi, advance, sahaj, children camps, panchayat courses and YLTP. The batting passed from swami shiv chaitanya to swami sowmyatej giving birth to rising political trends and north facing Nandi kutir block was opened for participants in 2006. Guruji again visited on Sunday 2 April 2006, and this time the ashram overflowed with people and cars and dignitaries. From no invitees to a satsang of 20,000 overnight! The main gate was turned to east facing and a Ganesh temple was established for the indian devotee who traditionally invokes Vinayaka. Agnihotra and maha mrityunjaye homas were started in yagnashala after navratri 2005. Yagyashala stands in the same place where Gurudev had performed bhumi puja. Guruji made a flying visit after ahmedabad shivratri in feb 2007, bringing along scores of international devotees from many lands – germany, south africa, america, taiwan, new zealand to name a few. He again visited ashram in sept 2007 after being honoured by a degree by the Maharaj Sayaji Rao University of Baroda. Navratri 2007 was a full scale affair presided over by Swami Sadyojatahji. Basant Panchami Jan 2009 marked the foundation stone ceremony of a luxurious corporate style kutir block named Gokul. This building has spacious rooms on two floors and meditation hall on top with a yoga capacity of 200 and a satsang capacity of 800. Hats off to Vijay Jadhav, engineer par excellence, architect, supervisor, and practical genius all rolled in one. In 2010 goshala has 75 kapila and gir cows from the vedic tradition – white, gold, reddish brown and dark skinned. And the mahi sagar sangam draws thousands for a holy dip on auspicious dates. Dev Rishi Narad – Lord Brahma’s youngest son with a musical instrument – who had meditated in these environs for a thousand years with ten thousand rishis – as depicted in our skand puran, has come alive to the exuberant vibrancy of Pujya Sri Sri Ravi Shankar message of Love, Joy and Enthusiasm.
Posted on: Sun, 15 Sep 2013 02:48:57 +0000
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