First buildings are nearing completion!
Dear Ones,
We are excited to share the latest progress on the construction of Guru Kripa Forest Hermitage. The first seven monk kutirs (cottages) are nearing completion, with a September target to launch the first Ananda Monastery that fulfills Swami Kriyananda’s vision!
The photos below show progress as of February 2026. There will still be 2+ years of ongoing construction to complete the entire project.
Government requirements for our institutional land use give us a clear timeline: complete the full project within 2–3 years. That means a temple, nine more kutirs, and an office building (already begun) are being designed and planned.
Four of the monk kutirs and the main Chela Bhavan building (kitchen, dining hall, living room, and more)
By most measurements, we are more than halfway to completion. We began looking for land in 2020 and are now just two years from finishing. There is still some way to go with additional buildings, design, and land development — but we are closer to the finish line than the starting line.
Fruit trees (over 150 so far), landscape trees (200+), shrubs (hundreds), vegetable gardens, and flowers continue to be planted every month. We’ll share a monsoon update this summer with special focus on the amazing growth across the land.
Swami Kriyananda stated that it was essential for India to have a proper monastery to support a growing number of monks. In a talk with a small group of our monks in Gurgaon, he said:
“Ananda needs your example — it needs the example of people who don’t get into the ordinary family mode. . . People who think, ‘God’s will first.’
“People like you are needed. India . . . ought to be producing many [monks]. I believe it will. Master [Paramhansa Yogananda] said to Debi Mukherji, ‘Someday lion-like Swamis will come from India and spread this message all over.'”
Jyotish and Devi have put it this way — that this new monastery “will have more far-reaching impact in India and the whole of the Ananda world than we can imagine.”
Recently, Nayaswami Jaya recounted a meeting that Swami Kriyananda called in the early 1970s to propose the first monastery at Ananda Village. Swamiji described exactly what we are building here: monks living in kutirs, each with a small private garden around it. He was inspired by a monastery where he had stayed for six months, before starting Ananda Village.
Our monastery monks continue to serve all over India, helping to lead retreats — and with our extensive online work. Monks hold key leadership positions throughout Ananda India. The training and support given by the monastery has been integral to Ananda growth in India.
Thank you for helping to fulfill what Swamiji wanted for Ananda India. Your support is felt by Ananda monks all over the world. We see it in every building, every tree and flower, and in every prayer offered on this sacred land.
Timeline with Milestones
- 2020 — Search for land to build a monastery begins
- 2021 — Land is found, donation is given, land is purchased; borewell is drilled giving over 300 gallons per minute
- 2022 — More land is added, eventually reaching 5.6 acres; we apply for a Change of Land Use from Agricultural to Institutional Use
- 2023 — Change of Land Use is granted; construction shed is built with solar panels; sacred Triveni trees are planted
- 2024 — Site Plan is approved; architects and contractors hired; ground is broken on the first monk cottages; hundreds of trees are planted; vegetable gardens begin
- 2025 — Construction proceeds at full speed
- 2026 — First buildings near completion; first monks projected to move to the Hermitage; construction begins on office building and soon a Meditation Temple of Light
- 2027 — Projected to begin constructing additional kutirs
- 2028 — Projected completion of entire project with final government approvals
These were taken in February 2026. More work has been done since then.
Three monk kutirs (cottages) under construction
Entryway to monk kutir
The main Chela Bhavan complex: four monk kutirs and the main Chela Bhavan house. The house includes: large kitchen; dining hall; living room that will serve as a temporary meditation space; root cellar; laundry facilities; outdoor dining patio; and facilities for washing and processing the food we grow.
The outdoor dining patio at Chela Bhavan. Shade trees will be planted soon along with flowering vines to give shade from above.
A kutir living room with entry door on the left. The process of building the rammed earth walls has been refined by our skilled team of masons. The brick dome roofs follow what Swami Kriyananda suggested, rather than flat ceilings. They are more rounded than the photo indicates.
Office building construction has begun. It will include group office space for the monks’ online work with classes, correspondence, and outreach. There will be meeting rooms and a dedicated recording studio and webinar room.
This shows the site four years ago during an event to bless the land. At that time we had no government permissions, none of the buildings you see above, and only two trees at the center of barren land!
“Ah, my brothers and sisters, would it not be wonderful if more of us were on fire with love for God? How many weep for the Divine Mother as Master wept when he was a boy? Our greatest work in life should be to express that divine yearning, that love. When we can reflect it, we shall be able to work ten times as hard, and a hundred times as effectively, as we do when we draw only on our own scanty powers.”
— Swami Kriyananda, in a letter to his brother monks
Monks with a bountiful harvest
With the deepest gratitude for your prayers and support,
Nayaswami Devarshi & Nayaswami Shankara,
on behalf of all our monks
