Hyderabad, a wonderful city and also a city of historical importance is popular in India and abroad because of many factors including educational institutions and medical tourism. In the vicinity of Hyderabad, many immovable assets mainly land assets which have been developed for different purposes are located. These attract Indians and foreigners. As an inhabitant of Hyderabad, I am proud of my city. Anyway, I am presenting a case which is known as Kanha Shanti Vanam. I visited the place on June 8, 2023, and spent the whole day there. Kanha Shanti Vanam is a spiritual center with an integrated township located around 25 kilometers away from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad at Chegur village, Ranga Reddy District, Telangana. The Vanam is spread over an area of 1,200 acres of land. It provides many activities such as spiritual training and mentorship programmes, manages nurseries, shops of books and clothes, the canteen where varieties of foods both north Indians and south are available, etc. The Centre also boasts of environmental initiatives including water conservation and saving endangered plant species. It is pertinent to mention that more than 2500 species of plants of more than 300 plant families are available inter alia of which are aquatic plants, bonsai and medicinal plants, cycads, edible fruits, ornamental plants, shade-loving foliage, flowering plants, etc are available in the nursery. Further, it may be mentioned that as a part of its educational activities, the Heartfulness Institute has established the “Heartfulness Learning Center,” which intends to offer children from Pre-KG through Grade eight.
For the benefit of readers, I wish to mention the history of the place. Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM) is a non-profit organization and a spiritual movement originating in India, which teaches the practice of “Sahaj Marg” or “Heartfulness Meditation”. It was registered in 1945 by Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh but its headquarters is at Kanha Shanti Vanam, Kanha village, Ranga Reddy District Telangana. The organization was also registered as SRCM USA in California in 1997. Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM) claims to have spread this system of meditation amongst millions of people across 160 countries. Internationally the place is popular. As per the statistics in Kanha Shanti Vanam, there is the largest meditation center in the world, accommodating 100,000 people at a time for meditation. The Organisation has established a medical center that has adequate medical facilities to assist the local people and visitors.
As a great achievement of the organization, the first-ever international conference on integrative health and wellbeing (IHW), took place at Kanha Shanti Vanam between 16 and 18 December 2022. The Conference combined traditional with integrative holistic approaches to health and wellness that were supported by research. Many prestigious national and international institutions provided support for the conference. There are dormitories, a large meditation hall, dining for 50,00 people, kitchens, toilets, and other facilities that could host a spiritual gathering of over 50,000 people. Many dignitaries visited the place. In December 2017, Ram Nath Kovind, the then Hon’ble President of India, E.S.L. Narasimhan, Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, visited SRCM’s Kanha Shanti Vanam Ashram and planted trees under the Green Kanha initiative.
This wonderful place is worth visiting. In addition to my visit and collecting information, the following websites have been consulted during the course of writing the article.
Prof Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad
References:
1) http://kanha.dev4srcm.org/the-kanha
2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shri_Ram_Chandra_Mission
