Kriyaban

This blog entry corresponds to my visit to Dihika in 2024. Dihika was not on my first trip in 2020, and it was in March 2024 that I decided to visit the place for the first time. Dihika is the place where Paramahansa Yogananda founded his first school. You can recognize the place because it is referenced in the master's autobiography, accompanied by three classic photos recognizable by Yogananda's devotees.

The pond, the tower and the pipal tree

In my interest in visiting Yogananda's Dhyana Kendras in India, this was a must-visit place. The Dhyana Kendras of the Yogoda Satsanga Society are centers for meditation and spiritual gathering founded by Paramahansa Yogananda. These centers are dedicated to the practice of meditation, specifically Kriya Yoga, and to teaching the spiritual doctrines promoted by Yogananda. The Dhyana Kendras offer a space for group meditation, yoga classes, satsangas (spiritual gatherings), and community activities.

Besides promoting individual spiritual growth, the Dhyana Kendras also engage in charitable activities, such as medical camps and blood donations, to support local communities. Devotees and practitioners can participate in daily meditations, study programs, and special events designed to strengthen their spiritual practice and their connection with the YSS community.
In this link, you can find all the Dhyana Kendras, ashrams, and retreat places in India of the Yogoda Satsanga Society. As you will see, there are many and they are spread throughout the country.

For me, one wonderful thing about the Dhyana Kendras is that in some of them you can stay and practice spiritual retreat. So far, I know three of the many that are all over India, and my interest is in getting to know them little by little in my recurring trips. The three I know and where I have been able to stay are the Kendras of Puri, Coimbatore and Dihika. In all of them, I have had a great time, been treated wonderfully, and been able to carry out my spiritual routines in an ideal environment for me as a devotee of Yogananda.

Dihika is about four hours by train from Dakshineswar. You can contact Debasis (the guide in Dakshineswar) to buy tickets and organize pickup taxis to the station. When I arrived in Dihika, a taxi that almost fell apart picked me up at the train station, and after many attempts and consultations with the local population, we were able to reach our destination. Because in India, when you take a taxi or a rickshaw and tell them where you want to go, they usually don't know, but they have a general idea of your destination and as they get closer, they then ask the locals; this is usually the case throughout India.

Dihika has the charm that, having previously seen photos of the master in this same place, it is especially exciting to be there. The two mythical places in Dihika are the ruined tower, where the master is seen sitting, and the pond in front of the school.

Aerial view of the Dhyana Kendra

The place is owned by the Yogoda Satsanga Society and they have restored it, adding a beautiful chapel for group meditations and a small building where devotees who want to retreat can stay and which also serves as a dining hall. Following the style of Yogananda's centers, the space is impeccably maintained and decorated with vegetation, and the calm experienced is wonderful; you really feel that the place is sacred and sanctified by the master's presence.

Building for devotees' accommodation and dining hall

It is true that there is a railway line about 100 meters away and the trains pass by quite frequently, honking their horns but very slowly. It's something that is a bit annoying at first, but personally, it's something you get used to; the place is so wonderful that it outweighs any inconveniences that may arise. Being at the Dakshineswar ashram, it is a must to visit this Dhyana Kendra. Just four hours away, you have the opportunity to feel closer to the master thanks to his presence in the place.

When Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda started his first Brahmacharya Vidyalaya here in Dihika in 1917, a tower existed in this very place where he used to meditate during school days. In 1935, during his tour of India, he came to Dihika and meditated in front of the tower, which by then had largely fallen into ruins. The photograph, as shown below, was taken by his disciple and secretary, C. Richard Wright, who accompanied him during the tour.

Yogananda at the foot of the tower

In the space of the old tower, a small chapel has been built where you can meditate, and I must say that when I entered for the first time, I smelled Yogananda. Don't ask me how that's possible, but I had that experience. It is the space I like the most in the whole place; in fact, I am writing these lines and I get goosebumps.

The tower

By the time the school site was acquired by the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India in 1997, the tower had completely collapsed and a mound of earth was found in its place. Once the top layers of earth were removed, the cement floor of the tower was exposed. A shrine — called Smriti Sthal — has been built around the base of the tower, part of which is still visible.

It is also very beautiful to recognize the pond, as shown in the original photos. The restoration work was able to uncover the stone blocks of the staircase, so these are the original ones, the ones the master surely stepped on many times.

Pond on the premises

When Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda started his first Brahmacharya Vidyalaya here in Dihika in 1917 in a one-story bungalow offered by the Maharaja of Kasimbazar, there was a large pond within the school grounds located some distance from the school building. In 1997, when the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India decided to purchase the land to maintain the legacy of the first school our revered Gurudeva had founded, they found the pond along with the original stairs intact. As the pond had filled with sediments, soil, or other materials over the intervening years, excavation was needed to give it its current appearance. However, the stairs were left intact and given the same pristine look they had a century ago.

Where the master was supposed to have sat meditating at the foot of a tree, as shown in the original photo, they have taken the trouble to recreate the same space, planting some trees of the same species.

Place where Yogananda sat at the foot of the great pipal tree

Here once stood a great pipal tree (Ficus religiosa), around 1917, with a large trunk and many spreading branches with thick leaves. During his tour of India in 1935, when Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda visited Dihika on December 18, 1935, he sat and meditated under the tree. The photograph shown above was taken by his disciple and secretary, C. Richard Wright, who had accompanied Guriji on the tour. Unfortunately, the original pipal tree has been lost to the ravages of time, but the current one is most likely a sapling of the old one.

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Here in Dihika I arrived with a cold that wouldn't go away and tried to cure it with a homeopathic treatment prescribed in Dakshineswar. After two days here, I managed to get rid of the mucus, but my cough still didn't improve, and I was starting to feel bad, so the devotee in charge of the place organized everything to take me to a doctor who prescribed antibiotics, after which I started to recover. The help provided by him and the devotees, as well as the doctor who attended to me (all free because I was a guest), is something I will be forever grateful for and for which I have no words. Eternally grateful to God and the master for putting such a precious place and excellent spiritual brothers in my path.

So, almost in a hurry because of my train's advance (to Calcutta again for departure the next day to Tiruvanamalai), I left the beautiful place looking back and thankful for having made the effort to come here, something I will remember with much love forever.

Information of interest

Transport:

Train from Dakshineswar to Dihika; cost: 400 rupees, duration 4 hours. Contact the devotee and guide, Debasis (+91 90070 58579) at the Dakshineswar ashram for ticket purchase and arranging pickup taxis to go to the station.

Accommodation in Dihika:

Contact: ysdk.dihika@gmail.com

Web: https://dihika.ysskendra.org

Recommended donation: 1200 rupees/day.

In this ashram, as in the rest of the Yogoda Satsanga Society ashrams, you have to fill out multiple forms for check-in, so you should read the response email carefully after requesting accommodation to determine precisely everything you need to provide to make the reservation correctly.

Important:

If you haven't read the Considerations section yet, don't forget to do so. In this section, you will find very valuable information that can save you many headaches. In particular, there are details related to credit cards and mobile phone use that are essential.