Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM) is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

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 Shahjahanpur () is a municipal corporation, town and district headquarters of Shahjahanpur District in Uttar Pradesh, India. The city is between Bareilly and Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. History Shahjahanpur was established by Di ...

, Uttar Pradesh. It has its current headquarters at Kanha Shanti Vanam, Kanha village, Ranga Reddy District near

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35 ...

Purpose and practice

Shri Ram Chandra Mission teaches the "heart based" Raj Yoga meditation system known as Sahaj Marg or Heartfulness meditation.

Organization

Shri Ram Chandra Mission was registered in India in the year 1945 by Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur, also known as "Babuji". He had taken the name Ram Chandra after his teacher of the system Ram Chandra of Fatehgarh, also known as "Lalaji". Babuji was succeeded as president and spiritual Master of SRCM by

Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari Shri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari (24 July 1927 – 20 December 2014) better known as Chariji, was the third in the line of Raja Yoga Masters in the Sahaj Marg System of Spiritual Practice of Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM). Early life Chari ...

. Following his death on 20 December 2014, Kamlesh D. Patel became president of SRCM and the fourth spiritual Master of the Sahaj Marg system. The organization was also registered as SRCM USA in California in 1997. Shri Ram Chandra Mission claims to have spread this system of meditation amongst millions of people across 160 countries worldwide. Books published by SRCM have been translated to over twenty languages and read widely across the world. The Spiritual Hierarchy Publication Trust (SHPT) was registered on 8 April 2009, with its headquarters at Kolkata, India. The SHPT undertakes all publication activities under license from the Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM) and the Sahaj Marg Spirituality Foundation (SMSF).Spiritual Hierarchy Publication Trust
/ref> Shri Ram Chandra Mission is an NGO recognized by the

United Nations Department of Public Information United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

(UNDPI) as a "non-profit organization" in Denmark, the United States and India.

Kanha Shanti Vanam

Kanha Shanti Vanam is a spiritual centre with integrated township located 25 kms from

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) is an international airport that serves Hyderabad, the capital of the Indian state of Telangana. It is located in Shamshabad, about south of Hyderabad and it was opened on 23 March 2008 to replace B ...

in Chegur Village, Ranga Reddy District,

, spanning 1,200 acres. It supports extended spiritual training and mentorship programmes. The centre also boasts of environmental initiatives including

water conservation Water conservation includes all the policies, strategies and activities to sustainably manage the natural resource of fresh water, to protect the hydrosphere, and to meet the current and future human demand (thus avoiding water scarcity). Popula ...

and saving endangered plant species.

Activities

Hon President of India unveils the World's largest meditation hall

In February 2020

Ram Nath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind (; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician who served as the 14th President of India from 2017 to 2022. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the second person after K. R. Narayanan, from the Dalit community ...

, the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murm ...

, visited Kanha Shanti Vanam, the global headquarters of Shri Ram Chandra Mission, and unveiled the meditation center, which the organization claims is the largest in the world. In connection with the center there is a learning center for children between the ages of 3 and 13, and a cricket stadium. SRCM in collaboration with the

United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan The United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan is based in New Delhi, India. It is one of 63 United Nations Information Centres (UNICs) located worldwide. These centres work globally under the direction of the Department of Publi ...

hosts the "All India Essay Writing Event", an annual essay writing event for school and college students across the country. Prizes are awarded for national and state level winners. In 2014, a total of 185,751 students from 11,857 schools and colleges across India took part in this annual contest. In 2017, the event was hosted with participants writing essays in English, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu. Shri Ram Chandra Mission, Kanha Shanti Vanam, was awarded the "Haritha Mitra" (Green Friend) Award by the Telangana government in 2016, in recognition of exemplary contribution to the greening movement undertaken by the Government of Telangana by Deputy Chief Minister Mahmood Ali of

Telangana State Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35, ...

, India. In December 2017,

, the then

, E.S.L. Narasimhan, Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, visited SRCM's Kanha Shanti Vanam Ashram and planted the 100,000th tree with Kamlesh Patel under the Green Kanha initiative.

Environmental Initiative

Tree Conservation

At Kanha Shanti Vanam, the Tree Conservation Center's project was launched by Union Agriculture Minister Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar. The centre undertook plantation of 50,000 plants over the years. A contemporary

tissue culture Tissue culture is the growth of tissues or cells in an artificial medium separate from the parent organism. This technique is also called micropropagation. This is typically facilitated via use of a liquid, semi-solid, or solid growth medium, su ...

laboratory has been built to aid in the propagation of critically endangered plant and tree species. Tissue culture is used in addition to the traditional methods of seed propagation, cutting, and layering.

Rainforest

The

Rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

in Kanha Shanti Vanam, which is grown in the formerly arid Nandigama Mandal, covers five to six acres, claims to have increased the area's green cover and has become home to vulnerable and endangered species in the past four to five years.

Water Conservation

There are twelve

water harvesting Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), aquifer, or a reservoir w ...

ponds built to replenish the

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

surrounding the site. The year 2017 saw the first significant rainfall in the area after 120 years of drought-like conditions. The increased green cover is claimed to be the reason for this change in climate.

Facilities

Meditation Hall

Kanha Shanti Vanam claims to have the largest meditation centre in the world, accommodating 100,000 people at a time for meditation.

Medical Center

The medical center has adequate

medical facilities A health facility is, in general, any location where healthcare is provided. Health facilities range from small clinics and doctor's offices to urgent care centers and large hospitals with elaborate emergency rooms and trauma centers. The nu ...

to assist the local populations and visitors. Shri Thaneeru Harish Rao, the Telangana government's honourable minister of finance, health, medical care, and family welfare, officially inaugurated the Kanha Medical Centre.

Ecological Center

Kanha Shanti Vanam is a conservation hub that upholds standards like

and

afforestation Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees ( forestation) in an area where there was no previous tree cover. Many government and non-governmental organizations directly engage in afforestation programs to create forests ...

. It claims to be an entirely

sustainable Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

and independent ecosystem. The

IUCN red list The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolo ...

vulnerable species

Diospyros candolleana ''Diospyros candolleana'', is a tree in the Ebony family, endemic to the Western Ghats of India and Sri Lanka. The trees are usually 20m tall, and found as subcanopy trees in wet evergreen forests up to 90m. Description The bark of ''D. cand ...

, often known as Panicled Ebony, was the tree that the former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

planted as the half-millionth tree.

Heartfulness Learning Center

As part of its educational activities, the Heartfulness Institute has established the "Heartfulness Learning Center," which intends to offer children from Pre-KG through Grade 8. Mr.

Suresh Prabhu Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu (born 11 July 1953) is an Indian politician, India's Sherpa (emissary), Sherpa to the G7 anChancellor of Rishihood University who was the Ministry of Civil Aviation (India), Minister of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Rail ...

, Union Minister for Commerce and Civil Aviation, and his wife Mrs. Uma Prabhu attended the inauguration of the Learning Center.

Events

2022

Rising for Kindness

The seminar took place between 12th to 14th August 2022. As per Heartfulness Institute, the goal of the "Rising with Kindness" conference was to promote acts of kindness for oneself, others, and the

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

. In addition to raising understanding of

Indian culture Indian culture is the heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems, artifacts and technologies that originated in or are associated with the ethno-linguistically diverse India. The term ...

and heritage amongst youth, the programme aimed to connect young leaders for

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The ...

and offer more possibilities with Heartfulness through

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

, and interfaith conversation.

International Health and Wellness

The first ever international conference on integrative health and wellbeing (IHW), took place in Kanha Shanti Vanam between 16th -18th December 2022. The conference combined traditional with integrative holistic approaches to health and wellness that are supported by research. Several prestigious national and international institutions provided support for the conference. Dr.

Mansukh Mandaviya Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya (born 1 June 1972) is an Indian politician currently serving as the Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers of India. He is also a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat. Early life Mans ...

, the Hon. Union Minister for Health, Family Welfare, and Chemicals and Fertilisers, delivered the conference's keynote address alongside Shri Kamlesh Patel, the Global Guide of Heartfulness Meditation.

References

{{Reflist

External links

SRCM (Official site)Sahaj MargSMSFKanha Shanti Vanam
Yoga organizations Organizations established in 1945 Spirituality Non-profit organisations based in India