About Anand Shikhar Sadhnalaya

Anand Shikhar Sadhnalaya is a Yogoda Satsanga Retreat. Situated in the lap of Himalayas, in the state of Himachal Pradesh, it is about fifteen kilometers away from the Shimla town.
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Distant view of Retreat

Welcome to Anand Shikhar Sadhnalaya

All the devotees of Yogoda Satsanga Society of India and Self Realization Fellowship are welcome to attend our Retreat Programmes/meditation programmes and other events aimed to disseminate the timeless teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda and help us create spiritually harmonious lives, more compassionate and peaceful world.

This Retreat has been constructed on a piece of land measuring 13 Bighas and 10 Biswa, donated by a local devotee. The retreat complex was inaugurated and dedicated to God and Gurus on, 10th May, 2005 on the 150th Birthday of our Paramguru Swami Sri Sri Yukteshwar Giri Ji. Divine blessings were experienced in many ways during the construction of this retreat.

“Meditating together increases the degree of Self realization of each member of the group by the law of invisible vibratory exchange of group magnetism.” – Paramahansa Yogananda

Swami Sri Krishnananda ji conducting Satsanga

The complex has three cottages of three to four stories each having two rooms in every floor with attached bath, verandha and independent approaches through bridges to every room.
One of the cottages has a Meditation Temple at the top of the cottage. There is a big lawn outside the temple, having many benches to sit and it is surrounded by flower plants and variety of ever green trees. A big dining hall & kitchen complex including a reception area is located in the ground floor of one of the cottages.
The roofs of the three cottages are of natural stone tiles of about one meter size extracted from the rocks in the interior of Shimla District, found at the top of the hills. These roofs are designed as per the traditional architecture of temples in the Himalyan region. The cottages are designed in such a way that all the rooms have a beautiful view of the green valley and forest in front of them.

The scene in front of the retreat complex keeps changing by the dance of light and shadows as the sun rises and traverses across the sky. The Retreat has board and lodging facilities for devotees coming for personal retreat or for attending the retreat programmes conducted by YSS Monks. There are only 16 rooms to be used by the monks, devotees and management. During the retreat programmes, each room is usually shared by two to three devotees. A provision of 24 hours water supply is ensured to all the rooms.

A parking facility for about six cars is also available inside the main gate of Anand Shikhar.

Energization Exercise in Progress

“It doesn’t matter if a cave has been in darkness for 10,000 years or half an hour, once you light a match it is illuminated.”– Paramahansa Yogananda

What our Devotees are saying

The retreat was conducted by Swami Krishnanandaji with his usual great love, humbleness, keen attention to each devotee’s requests, hospitality, and lovely sense of humor. For me, coming from Italy with a Christian Catholic background, this Easter celebration has been the first shared with YSS devotees. I could once more appreciate and be grateful to Master for his great vision of uniting East and West in the figures and messages of Jesus and Krishna.

– Dr. Moreno Toldo, Varanasi

It has been a novel experience for us to study the Autobiography together with all other devotees. Simultaneously listening to the Auto along with reading the book was a different and a very spiritual experience helping us to tune in with our Gurudeva and feel his divine presence amongst us…

– Sarbani Roy, Kolkata

The detailed reading of ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ has given the impression that it is a fathomless scripture. How beautifully, Guru ji has explained true wisdom and described the scientific assessment of the physical nature of the universe…. I felt enough vibrations of love and attraction from Great Gurus here…

– Rajinder P. Singhal, Delhi