Nayaswami Devarshi
Devarshi is the head monk of the Ananda India monastery. He has dedicated the past 47 years of his life to serving Ananda Sangha. For most of that time, he resided at Ananda Village in homes similar those described in Swami Kriyananda’s book, Space, Light, and Harmony.He also lived in an early version of the Ananda Monastery in the 1970s, when there were a handful of monks living in small cabins and trailers at Ananda Village. Those kutir-like dwelling were in the forest close to Swami Kriyananda’s early dome house, which later became the Crystal Hermitage. It was very similar to the model Kriyananda began describing to the monks in India in his later years.Devarshi has had a lifelong practice of gardening, dedicating the first fourteen years of his life at Ananda Village to full time farming and gardening. That period included seven years in commercial vegetable and fruit farming and seven years contributing to the development of the renowned flower gardens at Crystal Hermitage.Nayaswami Shankara
Nayaswami Shankara directs the monastery along with Devarshi. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Yale University. He has worked on many solar projects, including the solar company that was part of Ananda’s early work in India.Shankara played a pivotal role in the development and construction of the Ananda community near Pune, involving site planning, construction, infrastructure planning, and more. Those years provided invaluable insights into construction work in India and the development of a project on the scale of the Hermitage.Our Architects
Jitesh Malik leads Studio Aureole, with experience in a wide variety of design projects. Jitesh was the lead architect for the Aanandaa Permaculture Farm buildings, which included rammed earth.
Apoorva Sharma, an independent architect, has led workshops on rammed earth, Rohtak domes, lime plasters, and more as the founder of Bajri Collaborative.
Friends and Supporters
Hari Sudhan
Hari is a good friend and part of the team of acharyas at Ananda Delhi’s Panchsheel Park center. He practiced as an architect for ten years before joining Ananda. Trained in natural earth building practices under the renowned Laurie Baker, Hari brings unique expertise to our project. Laurie Baker is famous among Indian architects for reviving regional building methods, including natural earth buildings.
Studio Lotus
Our friends at Studio Lotus in Delhi, India, helped us get started by graciously sharing their advice on design and site planning. Founded by Ananda Delhi member Ambrish Arora, the firm’s work can be seen at www.studiolotus.in.
Aanandaa Permaculture Farm
Our friends at Aanandaa have shared and inspired us with invaluable advice on gardening and earth building. We met them during the first two weeks in Chandigarh while researching the area as a potential landing place for the monastery. Their choice of the name Aanandaa many years ago had a role in serendipitously bringing us together. Devarshi’s years of experience with natural gardening and landscaping in the U.S. are now being enhanced with natural growing methods in the context of India.
Aanandaa uses permaculture practices that are very much in tune with ideals that Swami Kriyananda spoke about. In later years, Swamiji even recommended permaculture. The word permaculture is based on the combination of the words permanent culture, which describe natural and organic gardening methods that are self-sustaining over the long term. Some of our Ananda Sangha communities in the U.S. have been practicing permaculture.
Aanandaa Permaculture Farm leads weekly workship at their farm, along with online classes and a website. You can learn more about them at www.aanandaa.com.
The Ananda monks
Our monks are beginning to learn from tree planting and care, working on improving the soil, and experimenting with small test plots of vegetables. Additionally, we have a capable local onsite manager overseeing all aspects related to the land, trees, construction, and more.
