Anandashram: Place to find Universal Love

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The world is one for all and every person is free to practice his religion to attain spiritual betterment. This vision is something not found commonly around the world but in a small ashram at Kanhangad all human beings are welcome to seek peace, spirituality & finally salvation. The beautiful Anandashram founded by Swami Ramdas has followed this vision for close to a century. The ashram believes in the involvement of the local community & works for universal love & service.  

Swami Ramdas was lovingly called Papa by his followers and was a saint & pilgrim who gave his all to the love of Lord Ram & chanted Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram which one can find idolised at the entrance of the ashram too. He took the name of Ramdas to preach love of Lord Ram among all. After finishing his first retreat in a cave at Arunachala he left the cave claiming that “All is Ram, nothing but Ram”. He continued living as a pilgrim & finally decided to start an ashram in the place of his birth, so came to Kanhangad. He along with his brother decided to start an ashram on the Pilikunji hill & named it Anandashram which was a small house with tiny rooms & open verandah along the Payaswini river. The functions of the ashram started in 1928 & was a blissful place with chirping of birds, sound of hymns filling the air with ecstasy. The ashram was a place of sadhana & four days after its inauguration a young widow by the name of Krishnabai came to the ashram & became a disciple of Swamiji. Her arrival & presence at the ashram provoked scandals which made many inmates leave. They warned Swamiji of her presence but Swami Ramadas ignored all such thoughts & continued his work at the ashram. It was in 1930 that some unknown individuals entered the ashram & physically attacked Krishnabai or Mataji, as she was fondly called. This attack prompted Swamiji to abandon his ashram & he along with Mataji, relatives, family & disciples moved to the nearby Manjapai hill where he opened the ashram by the name of Anandashram in 1931. This is the ashram one now comes to visit which is a simple structure. All the other structures came over the period, some built with the help of followers, some by the government to start welfare schemes for the society around. 

The ashram is a beautiful structure of simple architecture with an open verandah which invites all visitors. The bhajan hall has the presence of both Swamiji & Majaji in a life size cut out in the posture they were while performing bhajans. The walls of the bhajan hall are also adorned with pictures of several saints, Jesus Christ, Zoroastrians, Guru Nanak etc which provides all who come here the secular feel of spirituality. There is no opulence in the ashram as it was a place for all to achieve universal love & so all are needed to follow certain rules here. The ashram is centered around one mission, the chanting of Mantra “Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram” & these chants are continuously heard here. While the inmates of the ashram participate in the chanting around the samadhi, visitors are not compelled to chant the mantras as there is only one condition to be followed here; “a bell rings four times a day when, wherever you be, whatever you be engaged in you must drop and run to the dining hall for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner; for the rest, you may go in for any study you like or for any Sadhana you please.". The ashram cares for body enrichment and so all devotees, inmates and visitors can have free food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

The ashram was built from its foundation by Swamiji himself and all the trees one sees around the ashram were planted on this barren land by the members of the ashram itself. As you walk along the gardens, you can also find a place called Panchvati where 5 trees planted by Swamiji was the venue for Satsang when he was in the ashram. The samadhi mandirs for Swami Ramdas, Mataji & Swami Sachidananda can be seen behind the Bhajan hall for all to pay respects. Swamiji attained Samadhi in 1963 & it was Mataji who took care of the ashram after his retreat. Post the samadhi of Pujya Mataji, the long time disciple of Swami & Mataji, Swami Sachidananda took the leadership till his death in 2008. The ashram is a place for all to understand the importance of human values & attaining spirituality with just believing in oneself. The visit to the Anandashram is one for all to understand universal love.


Location: Kanhangad, Kerala, India

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