A Yoga Institute, Hospital, Research Center and Healthcare center all in one campus giving the centre a very comprehensive purpose. This form of yoga owes its roots to Swami Kuvalayananda who possessed the vision to apply yoga in all spheres of life and today his heritage is preserved and strengthened by Swami Maheshananda . The Swami lives in a cottage at the campus and performs havan (holy fire) twice a day.
Location
Kaivalyadhama is at 120 km from Mumbai, and 60 km from Pune. The expressway is at a stone throw -away distance and the Lonavala railway station is 10 minutes away. Thanks to expressway, the drive from Mumbai Airport to Lonavala takes about 2-3 hrs.
Yoga Institute
The Yoga Institute provides practical and theoretical training to prospective yoga teachers who can either choose a diploma or a certificate course. They provide flexibility in respect to duration, course- content, practical training, distance education etc. One can choose to become an advance yoga teacher, an instructor or a therapist.
The Health Care Centre
A rejuvenation center which has in-house yoga teachers and doctors (Allopathy, Naturopathy and Ayurvedic) They offer weekly programs and it is advisable to opt for at least two weeks program to reap benefits from your stay. Check-ins happen only on Sundays, where by a doctor meets you and assists you to choose a package. There are three types of packages one can choose from; Rejuvenation, Naturopathy and Ayurvedic. While the first one gives you a lot of time to read books, rest, self-research, introspect, write or whatever you would like to do in your free time. The second and third packages entitles you to two treatments (massages) prescribed by the respective doctor each day. A schedule is handed during check-in, which has yoga practice twice a day, cleansing kriya in the morning and Pranaayam and prayer in the late evening and a discourse from one of the qualified faculty of the center in the night. Simple, repetitive yet hygienic meals are served which you enjoy for the first few days but later you start craving for your preferred variety. There are three types of yoga practices on the offer; basic, therapy and advance. I had opted for advance yoga and found it average. Some of my friends who were doing basic yoga were very happy with their classes.
My Take on it
The center is very peaceful, located amiss modestly landscaped gardens, one can choose from single room cottages to family cottages. There are some rooms also in the main building and all the rooms are well ventilated and hygienic. I must mention that there is some positive spirituality among the people there that makes this place very desirable. The cleaners, cook, back-office workers as well as the faculty members, doctors etc are very polite and there is a big influence of yoga in their lives which is very efficacious. The menus are repetitive and do not cater to personal requirements but it does help to shed some extra kilos. The Naturopathy Centre is better than the Ayurvedic Centre and the treatments are fairly good. I went alone, but by the third morning everybody was talking to one another and the lunch-room was like a noisy school cafeteria. I made a friend for life and given a chance I shall go to Kaivalyadham again.