Registering for Parmarth Ashram

Hello all!

I am busily planning my trip to India to study yoga and I'm starting off with the beginner course at Parmarth Niketan Ashram and I was wondering if anyone who has stayed there could tell me if it would be better to register first and then buy a plane ticket or buy the plane ticket first and then register (do they get booked up quickly?! I've already lost a spot at another ashram b/c i didn't book it fast enough--i have limited internet access). I work seasonally at a resort and plan on going to India sometime around November or December. Also, I've been on the website and can't find the prices??? Is it just donation? Sorry if this has already been asked but I've poked about on this site quite a bit and haven't found anything.

Thanks so much!
Natalia

Try emailing them,they will usually reply with the relevant info within a few days. I visited the Ashram in early Jan but didn't stay there or do any courses, but i think everything is done on a donation basis;

http://www.parmarth.com/ashguidelines.html

Try to visit while Pujya Swamiji Chidanand Saraswati is present;

http://www.parmarth.com/pujyaswamiji_pics.html

He is a Great Soul & having His Darshan will be more beneficial than any Yoga course you can attend. Here's His Itinerary page;

http://www.parmarth.com/swamijisitinerary.html

Here's some pic's(of varying quality)of my visit to Rishi/Hardwar & the Ganga Aarti performed at Parmarth;

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/kulluk...ey=6sDndDMuqh4

You can also see the Aarti Here;

http://203.200.227.196/local_web/ganga_arti/default.htm

http://www.parmarth.com/gallery-aarti-yagna.html
KK

I would nail down my travel dates first ..

I did not make any reservations for my stay this April and did not have problems on a drop-in basis. The ashram is quite large.

They operate on a donation basis .. recommended donation is Rs. 500 per day for rooms facing inward , Rs. 750 for rooms facing the river on a single occupant basis. If there is 2 of you, I believe it is cheaper per person. This includes 3 meals and any of the daily yoga or vedic chanting sessions you want to attend.

Parmath's location and rooms are excellent.

and a gentle warning about Parmarth....when they use the word 'donation', they use it very lightly

When my friend came to pay her bill there she offered what she thought was a fair price only to be told that it wasn't enough and why didn't she 'offer' xxx amount

I cant say that either of us were impressed. They give you 3 meals a day there which they then expect you to pay for, whether you have eaten there or not.

Oh well, hope im not putting you off. Personally, i just tend to stay elsewhere and attend the classes i wish...K

I agree with you. Parmath is a very dirty place and you better stay at any hotel around and go to the services and yoga classes wherever you want. Most ashrams there are not closed to the outsider. You can easily hang around Shivananda ashram and visit whatever in their programm.So don't bother about bookings and just go. Ganga itself is the best what rishikesh can offer to you and is free of charge.
In hotels it will cost you around 250-500 Rs a day.And the food is cheap though specific.

Hi - I've stayed at Parmarth twice. Everything that has been said is true - you do have make a donation of Rs. 500 for a room. However, the accomodation is fairly clean and if you get a Ganga view room - an amazing experience.

But more importantly - you should check with Bhagvati or Alka if there will be an in-house Yoga teacher at the time you go. The first time I went they didn't have one - and Mataji, who teaches vedic chanting (she is truly gifted) - was travelling. Also - the gates close at 10.30pm every evening - no one can come in or go out - so if you need your 'freedom' - you should consider this, as well as keeping this in mind when you make your travel arrangements. If you don't make a booking, try to get there latest by 8.00pm - because the office closes after that.

A note: Parmarth can be quite a political place - but it's up to you whether you take it on board. The aarti in the evening is really wonderful - a time when all transcend their humanness and get in touch with their divinity inside and out...!! On the banks of dear Mother Ganga...!!!

Hope this helps.

World Dancer,

What do you mean with being political??

Planning to go there in Sep. not only for yoga but as a spiritual retreat...

I'm worry that this place may be just to big and touristy?

What is you opinion since you have been there twice? And where else around kind I found I different kind of experience. I'm planning to live in the Ashram for at least a month. Again, not as a tourist.

Thank you

Hi! When I say political, i mean internally. When I was there, there was astrike for most of the month and Swamiji, who is in charge of the ashram, actually stoppped coming to the evening Aarti (which is beautiful). In addition, you can feel the 'power struggle' between some of the people working there.. Some of the staff is outright rude and lazy - and this is very apparent when Swamiji is travelling.

Having said that - it is one of the bigger ashrams. It's a good place to start your trip and once there, uyou get to meet loads of people from around. I am myself going back in the 1st week of september and then plan to go and spend more time in one of the other ashrams. Muy purpose is very much spirituality - and yoga (mantra, hatha, pranayama, raja) as a part of a means to that.

Hope this helps.

Ok, got it. They have been so nice and sweet to me, but I feel is just so big...
But I gues you are right is a good start specially being my first time to one. I'll be there on Sept. 10th, do you think you will still around??? It would be great to meet you there. May be I could go to one of the other ashrams with you or your guiadence.

Hi Ilennasim,

You are welcome to emial me: rupalimahendra at hotmail dot com (this is the email format we have to use on this forum to avoid span). I will keep you informed - would love to meet up and travel together where guided to!

Regards.

Hi Ileannasim and World Dancer,

Hope you enjoyed your trip. I am heading to India at the end of May and would love to stay in a smaller ashram in the north. I am interested in yoga, meditating and chanting and don't mind quite a strict program. Do you have any recommendations or advice?

Hi, I just got back from spending a few days at parmarth. It was my first time to rishikesh, but I've stayed in ashrams a few times before. Parmarth is in a fantastic location, and for my first experience of rishkesh (i hope there's many more) it was absolutely great. The benefit is that it's very casual and suitable for "beginners" or just if you don't want a strict regime imposed. This is also it's down side too as classes may not happen and you may not realise what is going on sometimes! I was a bit lost a few times, but there was always a friendly face around, and I met wonderful people there.

The open house style, and the beautiful part of rishikesh where it's located is a great starting point for a journey, and you can then find a place more suited to your practise from there. And do try the chai at "the office" cafe just down the road!!

Hello, just one recommendation for you... I didn't stay there but visited for a couple of hours and it was intimate, sincere and quiet, an ashram called "Anand Prakash". It's a small family run ashram to the north side of ramjula past the main part of rishikesh. www.anandprakashashram.com

im new to the site and not sure if this is the way i go about asking questions but...

i would love to take this coming yoga intensive held in november and have emailed parmarth. i am not sure how you go about registering through email, it has been a week since i first emailed and i have not received a response. wondering if im just being impatient or...?

It took about 10 days for me to get a reply, so hang in there for another week or so. There is someone who volunteers as the english email registrations person, and she lives in Canada. You should have no problems registering though.