Parmarth Niketan in the lap of Himalaya, Rishikesh

From the archive record

On the holy banks of the Ganges, in the lap of the Himalayas, lies Parmarth Niketan Ashram, the largest ashram in Rishikesh and one of India's largest spiritual institutions. Parmarth Niketan means "An abode dedicated to the welfare of all." Rishikesh is a land known as the “home of the rishis.” Its alternate spelling of Hrishikesh refers to Lord Vishnu, as Lord of the Senses – it is, therefore, a land in which to conquer one’s senses, to conquer the call of desire, to become master of oneself. It is to this place which in the early 1940s, a revered saint from Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh named Pujya Swami Shukdevanandji began coming, to meditate on the banks of Ganga. As he did so, he slowly began to construct a small space for himself and Pujya Swami Bhajananandji to stay. Slowly, as mo