Anandashram
| Type | Private management |
|---|---|
| Established | 1931 |
| Founders | Swami Ramdas and Mother Krishnabai |
| Address | Anandashram P.O., Kanhangad 671531, Dist. Kasaragod, Kerala, India. Email: anandashram@gmail.com, Kanhangad, Kerala, India |
| Website | www |
Anandashram (ആനന്ദാശ്രമം) (Hindi: अनंदाश्रम) (English translation = "Abode of Bliss") is a spiritual retreat located in Kanhangad, a city and a municipality in Kasaragod district in the Indian state of Kerala. Anandashram was founded by Swami Ramdas and Mother Krishnabai, also called Papa Ramdas and Pujya Mataji, in 1931.
The idea of setting up an ashram or spiritual centre called "Anandashram" seems to have first occurred to Swami Ramdas in Bombay. He had recently stayed in Kasargod in North Kerala where he had been, according to his memoirs, "put up in a thatched hut on the Pilikunji Hill." While in Bombay, Swami Ramdas wrote to Anandrao (his brother in Kasargod) "expressing a wish to have an Ashram in that place on the Pilikunji hill. [Swami Ramdas] also suggested that it might be named 'Anandashram.'" A small Ashram consisting of a tiny room and an open veranda was constructed upon the hill, to the south of which flowed the Payashwini river. This Anandashram was inaugurated on 3 June 1928. In a letter dated 14 June 1928, Swami Ramdas describes the Ashram thus: "For about a fortnight last, Ramdas has been occupying the new Ashram, got ready for His child by Sri Ram. It is situated in a jungle, at the foot of hills, near a swift running stream. The place is calm and blissful. Morning and evening, the sweet notes of birds fill the air with thrills of ecstasy. Within the Ashram, hymns are sung, and the chanting of God's names goes on, all day and night. Devotees of God are pouring in numbers. Ramdas is merged in a sea of bliss. The Ashram is named "Anandashram"."
This ashram would prove to be the site for the sadhana and self-realization of Mother Krishnabai. On 7 June 1928, just four days after the establishment of the Ashram in Kasargod, the young widow Krishnabai arrived in Kasargod to stay with her sister-in-law. By 1930, she had left her family and was living permanently in the Ashram. Her presence in the Ashram provoked considerable scandal, causing the Ashram's regular inmates to leave; the number of visitors also dwindled.
In 1931, soon after Mataji Krishnabai completed her sadhana and gained the experience of samadhi, Swami Ramdas and Mataji were forced to abandon the Ashram permanently following a physical attack on Mataji Krishnabai by a pair of unknown individuals. A few days later, while staying in Kanhangad, Swami Ramdas's friends and devotees suggested that a new Ashram be set up near the Manjapati hill in Kanhangad. Swami Ramdas agreed, and the new Ashram, also called 'Anandashram,' was opened on 15 May 1931. The surrounding area, which was called Manjapati before the establishment of the Ashram, is now known as Ramnagar.
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