Become a Yogi where yogis are raised, at a Spritual Oasis, on the bank of the Ganga River, in the foothills of the Himalayas, between Haridwar and Rishikesh.
 YogAnga Retreat at Sri Santosh Puri Ashram, is a center for spiritual research and studies of the yogic art of living, following in the lineage of Baba Santosh Puri Ji Maharaj & Narvada Puri Mata Ji (sanyasin in the Juna Akhara order). Founded by Baba Santosh Puri in 1978, initially it was called Dattatreya Gaushala, established merely as a place for people to come together in the service of cows and dogs. The original vision of the ashram continues today with the three grown up children of Baba Ji and Mata ji: Ganga, Mandakini and Alaknanda, and third generation newest member of the family, Rudraksh. Together with their diverse experiences and expertise they bring to the ashram atmosphere and YogAnga Retreat curriculum an authenticity deeply rooted in the tradition of true Himalayan Yogis. Whether you want to live your life in an ashram setting or just take with you some tips towards making adjustments back at home, they selflessly provide guests guidance in a well rounded, holistic approach to adopting the yogic and spiritualized lifestyle they learned from their parents as masters. Along with other respected guest teachers at the ashram, the three siblings devote their energy to pass on the teachings of the traditional Indian gurus and yogis offering various courses all year round. Prior enrolment is suggested. Some extra fees may apply.
Course schedule is based on moon calendar and may change due to unexpected conditions, however the contentment will always remain as the spirit of the master's divine flame.
We appreciate your arrival between 10am - 9pm, a day before the course begins. All courses begin and end with a fire ceremony. There are led yoga classes everyday, self practice on all Sundays, full moon and new moon.
Om Tat Sat
Jai Guru Datta
- Our aim is to create a suitable
environment (ashram), away from the distracting
world of desires and competition, towards retreat,
life in simplicity and truthfulness. "Simple
living high thinking."
- Rediscovering the forgotten ways
of the art of living in yoga, Ayurveda and the
holy Vedic scriptures. The lost paradise is
regainable through meditation and a living according
to the laws of "dharma" religion.
- Not only classes or courses,
but the chance to live through out the day in
spiritual learning, practicing and transforming
consciousness with equal minded aspirant
Origin
 The Santosh Puri Ashram was founded
by Baba
Santosh Puri and Narvada Puri Mata Ji in 1978. The ashram restored
the first charitable pilgrim heritage - now forsaken
- on the footpath from Haridwar
to Badrinath, the abode of the Gods at a height
of 4000 meters.
Starting from a raw piece of land,
Baba Santosh Puri gradually build up an ashram
that contains various buildings for housing people,
dogs and cows.
Roughly 10 people live here more
or less permanently and all contribute to the
farming and the running of the ashram. The farm
has about 10 cows and some land for growing vegetables,
pulses, grass for cows, etc..
After Baba Santosh Puri left his body, the ashram continues to develop by their (now adult) children.
Location
 The
Santosh Puri Ashram is situated in the forested
borders of the holy Ganga river at the feet of
the Himalayas, 7km from Haridwar, 18 Km from Rishikesh,
210 Km north of New Delhi. It is directly adjoining
the Raja National Park and surrounded by ashrams
and a big mango garden.
Haridwar is the 'ashram belt' of India and Santosh Puri is one of several ashrams that are clustered along this stretch of the Ganges. From within the cool green shade of the ashram grounds it is possible to hear chanting and singing from surrounding ashrams. It's also possible to hear nothing but the whispering of river-breezes in the trees ? a rare and beautiful thing in a country packed with humanity and the normal noise pollution that goes with it. Santosh Puri's 'backyard' is a sprawling national forest, and the grounds themselves are a sweet blend of rambling woods, a dorm block so well-clipped as to seem almost like a quaint British retirement home, gardens that supply the bounty produced by the kitchen, and unassuming gathering spaces that nonetheless radiate an almost-harmonic power. Guest numbers are limited to 20 or so as this is a smaller family compound, adding to the feeling of intimacy.
The jungle by the Ganga River infront allows long
lovely walks and quiet sittings. Ganga is nearby enough for a daily bath in its holy waters.
a nature aligned lifestyle for the body, mind & spirit
Lineage
 Spiritual Head and ashram namesake, Baba
Santosh Puri was a renunciate since childhood, living in severe austerity on an island in the middle of the Ganga near Harki Pauri in Haridwar. After his Maha Samadhi (leaving the body) in 2001, his inspiring decades of service to disciples, cows and the mother Ganga, along with his unselfish spirit is the guide which illuminates all activities at the ashram today.
Narvada Puri "Mata Ji" met Baba Ji when she was 24 years old on her first journey to India from Germany in 1969. Immediately becoming a disciple, she never left his side and endured nearly 10 years living by the dhuni (sacred fire place) under a tree, learning hard purifying lessons through service to her Guru. After Baba Ji's samadhi, Mata Ji made the natural shift from disciple to master and out of pure compassion she felt it her duty to share with the world her experiential knowledge of how to root out the main obstacles along the spiritual path. Mata Ji took her Maha Samadhi in early 2014 and her grace continues to bless all aspirants.
Current Generation Leading the Ashram
[click on photos / names to read their bios]
YogAnga Retreat - Courses & Ashram Retreats:
The ashram is one part education, one part transformation and one part home. Santosh means contentment, and after an initial inner struggle to release whatever may be necessary for your inner purification, that is exactly what the ashram offers.
This is no holiday camp type guest house. The day begins pre-dawn with meditation and aarti, Herbal tea and an 7:30am Hatha style asana class is followed by breakfast and Karma Yoga before lunch. The afternoon is dedicated to lectures, prayanama sessions, or ganga snaans (baths). Dinner, the evening aarti and occasional kirtan celebrations brings the day full circle.
 Yoga here is a 24 hour experience, not just a couple of daily asana sessions so be prepared to work hard for the good of the community as much as for your own inner self. Also be prepared for bringing awareness to everything you do, from they way you get out of bed in the morning to how you interact (or not) with other visitors. This is not a place for change that is forced upon you. The tools for clarity, peace, and purity are laid out and the struggle of whether or not to take up these tools, how to use them, and how cynical to feel about the whole process is between you, your ego, and whatever deity you invoke. All of these activities are optional yet it is amazing the inner transformations that can take place the deeper one dives into everything here.
A spiritual, academic place of retreat for learning and practicing ancient and modern yogic teachings, for fulfillment in life through self-realization.
Appreciating your constant effort to live in the present moment...
ayasa vinyasa YogAnga abhyasa
offering short retreat & certificate courses, according to schedule and course descriptions covering the following activities and topics:
Shatkarma (six hatha yoga cleaning practices)
Asana
Mudra
Pratyahara
Pranayama
Dhyan
Chakras
Sukshma Vyayam (subtle pranic exercises)
Ayurveda
Clinical Yoga Therapy
Ayurvedic Cooking
Yantra Painting
Bhagavad Gita
Yoga Sutras
Guru Gita
Vedanta
Homa Fires
Teacher Training Courses
Learn to live a traditional yogic lifestyle and become qualified to teach and lead others as well. Our intensive teacher training programs are led by Ganga Puri, Mandakini Puri and Alaknanda Puri, as well as other guest instructors.
After over twelve years of self-study, continuous practice and deep devotion, Ganga Puri has developed his original yoga style he calls "Ayasa vinyasa YogAnga abhyasa", a seven limbed hatha yoga practice which includes: Shatkarma, Asana, Mudra, Pratyahara, Pranayama, Dhyaan and Samadhi as mentioned in ancient scripture. Designed to instil enthusiasm and discipline in aspiring yogis, as well as inspiration to maintain one's own self-practice, Ganga's yoga sessions bring precise alignment of the physical body, awareness of the breath as well as the prana, clarity to the mind, balance of the three gunas as well as the male/female energies within, opening of the chakras and a heightened connection with the natural and supernatural universe around us.
  We currently hold, several one month Yoga Alliance acredited teacher training courses according to schedule.
Arrangements or inqury over
our e-mail address om@yoganga.org
All goods and bads, ups and
downs are in (holy river) Ganga Maa's hands - may the divine always
insure our truthfullness, sincerity, desirelesness
and forgive us for our enthusiasm to spread his
massage and treasury from worldly disease.
Om Shanti
Visit Us:
Santosh Puri Ashram is Humble center of Yoga near Ganga River, with very little Ego around, but plenty of Love, Natural Beauty and Purity to share. We offer guidance, lectures, yoga classes all based on a special concern and love for you, in effort to assist you in your spiritual inner journey of finding truth, light, peace and ultimately a more meaningful life.
Your stay in the ashram should by no means be mistaken as a stay in a hotel or guest house, but should be seen as a chance to follow the request of the soul in all of us to renounce the worldly illusion and devote our time to inner and outer purification through spiritual knowledge and practice of yoga. While we may leave our visitors free to do their own sadhana, we do encourage participation in all we have to offer you, our programs giving guests a taste of the many different paths to yoga (union). The best way to learn is simply to follow the daily routine of the ashram. It is possible to make your entire day into yoga sadhana (practice).
 There is no time limit on visits but it's best to stay for at least three weeks, three months is even better. As one former guest says "It takes a few days to arrive on all levels. If you arrive one week and have to begin thinking about leaving the next week, you have no time to simply be there." The longer you stay, the more your participate, the more you can really dive in and the deeper your experience will be. We encourage long-term guests, as they maintain the atmosphere as well as can offer inspiration to new-comers.
The divine is always there, waiting to be realized. A little effort from your side to BE HERE NOW in the present moment, right circumstances, holy company and a beneficial renouncement of unimportant worldliness is all what is needed.
If having read through our website, you know this is the place for you, advanced booking is also offered and recommended, especially for specific courses:
Accommodations & Facilities:
- over 20+ simple, clean and comfortable rooms (single or double, some with attached bathroom, some with common / shared bathrooms).
- 3 halls for meditation, asana, classes, and special programs and concerts
- discourses and practical courses in all aspects of Yogic lifestyle (see schedule)
- Medium in English.
- Satsang (in the company of fellow seekers of the truth)
- Kirtan (spiritual music jam sessions with: harmonium, tabla, dholak, guitar, bansuri, violin and various other percussion instruments
- Vegetarian food (breakfast, lunch, dinner) with locally grown fruits and vegetables, some from the ashram garden itself.
- special diet according to specific holiday fasting rules.
- regular Indian chai and ayurvedic herbal teas (morning and afternoon)
- pure milk products and ghee from our own cows
- Ion Filtered Drinking Water System
- Library (with 100s of books in various languages: Sanskrit, Hindi, English, German, Hebrew, French, Spanish, etc.)
- Computer access and Wireless Internet
- Landline Phone (for local calls only)
- Ayurvedic Consultations and treatments (upon request with additional fees)
- Therapy through acupressure and ayurvedic massage (upon request with additional fees)
- Advice, arrangement and guides for tours, travels and mountain retreats
- Individual guidance and therapy.
- Hindi & Sanskrit language instruction (upon request).
Contact
Please use
the contact
mailform to see if the ashram has room for you at the time of your choice.
Donations
 The initial intention of the Ashram was not to charge for its spiritual life ideas, rather to share whatever we have been given as gifts from the Divine. However over the years it has become important to create a standard for suggested donations for participation in the courses mentioned on the schedule, in order for the maintenance and development of the Ashram, the gaushala (cowshed) and its charitable endeavors like offering free stay for orphans and saints, and ultimately for offering quality accommodations and food for our aspirants/guests who come to spend time in preparation for higher teachings, to plant a seed of divine devotion and to cultivate a budding desire for liberation.
Dakshina: a voluntary offering to the Guru, spiritual guide, preceptor, or teacher as a thanksgiving of respect.
Dana: charitable donation kindly requested for each course.
For what does your donation serve?
Instalation of Sustainable Living / Off the Grid / Eco Friendly facilities such as bio-gas (from cow dung) for cooking, solar water heating system, solar electricity, etc.
Internet, Phone, Water, Electricity, Petrol bills
Maintanance, Renovations and Repairs: car, scooters, farming equipment, and other machines
Registration in Foreign Registration Office.
Security guards to serve the gates.
Gardeners & people who serve the cows, to provide us with (organic) vegetables, flowers, and milk and its different products (ghee, butter etc.)
The cook for serving vegetarian, hygienic, organic and Ayurvedic meals
Serving children, poor, & saints, Bhandaras (feasts where attendees also receive some money and needful gifts).
Your contribution financially (donation), bodily (yoga), and mentally (holy scriptures and self-study) is a charitable support to make ashram retreat places possible as an alternative to worldly bondage, conflicts and discontentment. Contributing on all levels will enhance your spiritual experience here, By performing donation seva (selfless service) one receives blessings for charitable acts.
More pages on the Santosh Puri
Ashram:
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