Gardens

Swami Shivanad Yagendra Maharaja, in whose name the Ashram is called Shivpuri, had indicated that there be a lot of beautiful Flower's and plant's around Him. On one ocassion Swami Shivanand Yogendra Maharaj remarked "Behold, the fragrancesof flowers pervades our garden".

In fulfillment of these words a garden is laid out at Shivapuri where you find the fragrance of flowers pervading among the existence of rare trees like Rudraksha (Eleocarpus-ganitrus-Roxb), Camphor (cimamomum- Camphora,L.) and Kadamba (Anthocphalus-cadamba,Mig) etc and several potent medical herbs.

Shreeji had also mentioned it a couple of times. When Shreeji was still dwelling in Guru Mandir, He would send a few of His devotee's everyday to form and maintain a garden near the Samadhi of Swamiji. He would specifically instruct people about the way the garden has to be developed. He would also always inquire about the progress of the work in the gardens of Shivpuri.

When He started dwelling in Shivpuri 1984, He would everyday go to all the Shrines for Pooja and Darshan. During this time He would also personally look at all the trees in the gardens and make sure people are taking due care of them. He would also not like if a certain tree went dry and would feel sad about the incident. He also used to be very happy and joyed if a new tree was planted. Whenever somone showed the inclination of working in the gardens of Shivpuri or planting some new trees or developing some new area into a garden, He would be very pleased. He always encouraged people to look after the gardens and spend time working in the area in Shivpuri.

Shreekantji also carried the same feeling about Shivpuri and its Gardens.

He would constantly work towards the maintenance and upkeep of the premises especially the trees and the gardens.
He developed many new gardens and also planted many new trees. He instructed people personally how to plan a new garden and how to procure the necessary trees.

Many new ideas were also initiated by Him. He instructed the people to have the entire garden area to be covered by Drip Irrigation Method. As stated earlier, Shivpuri lies in an area of low rainfall. Due to this the avarage corp of this area is also effected. There were times when even drinking water became scarce. In this scenario, there was very little or no water left for the trees in the gardens of Shivpuri. Shreekantji immediately instructed the people to even buy the water via tankers if necessary, but give water to the garden trees. He also built watering holes in the gardensfor the birds and other animals like Hare, Deer, Peacocks, Jackals, etc who came looking for water.

The Ashram of Shivpuri has many beautiful Garden. All of them have been designed keeping a theme in mind. Most of the trees growing in the Ashram premises have been planted around the 1950's.

The whole Ashram looks like one huge beautiful place with many green areas distributed throughout the campus. A lot of themed gardens gives the visitor a chance to see all of them one by and also learn a lot about the trees and herbs planted in those gardens. The Gardens are all well spread out and one can walk from one to the other.

Many visitors throughout the year visit Shivpuri. They are mesmerised by the sheer beauty of the place. People come from all over the world and they are deeply impressed by the beautiful gardens and preserves of Shivpuri.

Water Supply:

Shivpuri has three wells and three borewells in the Ashram Premises. They supply the entire ashram with all the water that is needed. The water for all the purposes like Cleaning, Cooking, for the guest rooms, gardens, farm crops is taken from these water sources. Big tanks have been built at variuos places in the Ashram, where the water is pumped from these resources. From here the water is then distributed to various places for local use. The Drip Irrigation System, which provides water supply to the gardens is connected to similar tanks near the garden areas. From here the water is given to all the plants through the Drip Parallel's.

Themed Gardens:

Shivpuri has the following Themed Gardens:

Mango Plantation:

This plantation is near the Go Samadhi area. It has a total of about 300 Mango trees. Some of the trees are of the Alphonso variety of Mango and some are of the Kesar (Indian Breed) variety of Mango. They have been planted in 2004. They are being cultivated as per the Agnihotra Farming Method.

Yagnya Garden:

Many big trees can be seen in the area behind the Banyan tree in Shivpuri. This is the Yagnya trees garden. All the tree used in Yagnya's are planted here. They are Vad, Bilva, Khair, Palash, Audumbar, Pimpal, Shami, etc. They ahev been planted here for the purpose of using in Yagnya's.

Ayurveda Garden:

This has been developed in the area around the Dharmatma Tatyaji maharaja Memorial. It has more than 80 rare Ayurvedic herbs. They have been preserved here. Many students and patients, who come to the Ayurveda center spend time in the garden, getting knowledge about them from the information plates near each tree.

Landscaped Garden:

This has been planned near the Housing quarters. This is a beautifully landscaped garden with water fountains and lotus ponds. A lot of green lawn is growing in this area making it looks like a beautiful postcard picture. The water fountain is used only at evening and nights with multicolored lights. The lotus ponds have beautiful lotuses of 3-4 different colors. Most of the days there are atleast a few lotuses that can be seen. The artificial mounts and the rock garden also add to the scenic beauty of that area.

Tulsi Garden:

A huge plot of Tulsi (Ocimum Sanctum) has been planted near the Bhagwan Shree Krishna Statue. It has the Krishna Tulas variety of Tulsi (Holy Basil) growing in neatly arranged plots. This Tulsi is used daily for the Pooja of the Dieties.

Bilva Trees:

A lot of Bilva (Aegle Marmelos) trees have also been planted at various places in the Ashram. Shivpuri is the Samadhi Place of Swami Shivanand Yogendra Maharaja, who is a incarnation of Bhagwan Shiva. During the 1969 Somayaga, Bhagwan Shiva had Himself appeared in the form of a Saint and had expressed the desire of residing in Shivpuri. This incident reiterated the fact that Shvipuri is indeed BHU KAILASA, the Holy Abode of Bhagwan Shiva. Bhagwan Shiva, has twice, Once in the form of Swamiji taking Samadhi here and then in 1969 as Saint expressing the desire of living here, has shown the fact that He is now residing in Shvipuri and that from now on this is Kailas. Bilva leaves are needed for the Pooja of Bhagwan Shiva. All the leaves from the Bilva trees in Shivpuri are used for the Pooja of Swamiji and The Kashi Vishweshwar Shiva Linga and other Holy Shiva Linga's in Shivpuri.

Fruit Trees:

A lot of fruit trees like Guava, Chickoo, etc have been planted on the pathway towards the Sonamata Temple.

Flowers:

Many trees bearing beautiful and aromatic flowers ahev been planted on the pathway from in front of the Shiva Mandir till the Go Samadhi. They contain trees like Rose, Jasmine, Champaka etc. All the flowers collected from these trees are used for the Pooja of the dieties in Shivpuri.

Rudraksha Trees:

There are many Rudraksha Trees in Shivpuri. Usually Rudraksha trees grow only in high altitude zones and in cooler climates. But they are still growing in Shivpuri, despite it being in the plains.