Vipassana Centers

The Centre is situated on a tranquil 5.2 acre land in Cheriyanad, a village near Chengannur town, in the south indian State of Kerala. It is located in a rustic environment. In spite of its apparent remoteness, the place is well connected by road and rail.

In 1975 Ratilal Mehta, a very spiritual businessman, after sitting a couple of courses with Goenkaji in Rajasthan, invited him to conduct a course in his newly constructed switch factory in Hyderabad. After a couple of courses being conducted there, he decided to construct a meditation centre in 2 acres of adjoining land. Goenkaji named it Dhamma Khetta and the first course was conducted there in September 1976 – the first centre to conduct a course in this tradition. Initially Goenkaji used to conduct two courses a year there, but later when he appointed Assistant Teachers, a course was conducted every month. Gradually over the years, more land was donated and now the centre has almost 7 acres.

A spacious Dhamma Hall for 150 students and a Pagoda for 72 students were built in the early 1980’s. Later a mini hall for 50 students, one hall for 30 students and another one for 75 students were built. Pagoda cells also have been increased to have a total of 125 cells. There was accommodation for about 90 males and 75 females initially but as the buildings were very old they are being slowly upgraded and now there are 24 single and 15 double rooms on the female side and 20 double rooms and 12 single rooms on the male side. 7 more single rooms on the female side and 28 single rooms on the male side will be built in the future. The kitchen and dining hall will also be upgraded after that. Eventual the centre will cater to 75 male and 60 female students. There are residences for 2 female AT’s and 4 male AT’s.

Two courses are conducted every month, starting on the 1st and 3rd wednesday except when there is a long courses of 30 and 45 days. A childrens course is conducted on the Sunday that the course ends – twice a month. There are many buses from the city to the centre. The centre is 1km away from the main road (which leads to Nagarjuna Sagar). The airport is 34 kms away and the various train stations in Hyderabad are between 20 to 22 kms away.

This Centre is situated in Kondapur village, which is 12 km from Sangareddy junction and 6 km from Peddapur village. Historically this place was known as Kondanya puram named after Koundinya, one of the first five disciples of the Buddha. The archaeological department has done various surveys and in the excavations they discovered Bodhi Sathva idols and stupas along with carved footprints of the Buddha. These are all exhibited in the archaeological museum in Kondapur village. In March 2005, in this same village an old student donated 10 acres of land for a meditation centre and 3 acres for Vipassana Prachar Samithi. One day were run every sunday in a hut for 2 years and meanwhile a Dhamma hall to seat 50, Mini hall to seat 40, 12 single and 9 double rooms for 30 male students, 7 double rooms and 7 single rooms for 21 female students, AT rooms for male and female and Kitchen with dining halls were constructed. A pagoda with 44 cells is under construction.

The first 10-day course was for males and was conducted in April 2007. From feb 2009 mixed courses are being offered once a month with a children course on the ending day. One teenager course, three 3-day courses and a Satipattana course is also conducted every year.

The distance from Hyderabad is about 70 kms and it would take about one and a half hours to get there.

Dhamma Koṭa, meaning ' Fort of Dhamma', is located near the serene village of Khokhaddad, about 14 km from the city of Rajkot. Rajkot is one hour air travel from Mumbai, and is also well connected by road and rail to Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Established on 14 acres of land backed with hills, Dhamma Koṭa offers ten-day courses around the year as well as occasional Satipatthana courses. Facilities presently available include three Dhamma halls, a Pagoda, segregated dining areas, and residences consisting of single and double rooms.

The Dhamma Kuta Vipassana Meditation Centre is located at Mowbrey, Mahakanda, in close proximity to the city of Kandy, the hill capital of Sri Lanka. Located in a serene, tranquil environment, it is encircled by a vista of mountains with the holy peak of Sri Pada, the Bible Rock and a host of other mountains in the horizon. The approach to the Centre is along the Galaha road, 5 km from Peradeniya on the Colombo – Kandy road. The Centre has the capacity to cater to about 80 meditators during a retreat. Much dedicated effort has gone in to provide an ideal environment for meditation at ‘Dhamma Kuta’.

Dhamma Lakkhaṇa, meaning 'Characteristic of Dhamma', is situated in eight acres (approximately 105,000 sq m) of land dotted with several auspicious trees such as peepal etc, in the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous city. Established in January 2003, the Centre is well-connected by air and rail, with the nearest locality being the small town of Bakshi-kaTalab located about 15 km. from Lucknow on Lucknow - Sitapur Highway. Dhamma Lakkhaṇa conducts about 18-20 ten-day courses each year, in addition to one or two Satipatthana courses, several 3-day courses and Anapana courses for children.