1 This album has pictures of Brahma Kumaris at Mount Abu (where it started) and Abu road (its global headquarters). At Mount Abu is Pandav Bhawan. Inside that is `Tower of Peace`, samadhi of its founder
Prajapita Brahma born as Dada Lekhraj Kripalani. In Oct 1937, Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya was formally established. It was founded in Sindh. The organization
spent the first 14 years in deep introspection, Rajyoga Meditation practice, spiritual study and silence.
2 In the same complex is a Kutiya or home of Prajapita Brahma fondly referred to as Brahma Baba. Born son of a schoolmaster he went on to become a renowned jeweller. In Oct 1937 Brahma
Baba formed a trust consisting of young men & women. Baba surrendered his entire worldly wealth & property to the trust constituted only of women. Nowhere had women been given the
honour to head and run a spiritual organization.
3 In Pandav Bhawan is a history room that has old pictures of the Movement and its founders. Very nice. On its wall is this lovely inscription and pic of people who have contributed to the Brahma
Kumari movement. Shantivan at Abu road is an ocean of peace. Everybody does their duty self-lessly, lots of silence and positive energy.
4 The three Dadis who have significantly contributed to making Brahma Kumaris what it is today. Dadi Prakashmani was chief of BK from 1969 to 2007. She helped BK establish its branches globally.
Dadi Janki is the current head of Brahma Kumaris. She has pioneered, exemplified & shared with millions a structured & disciplined method of spiritual development and works for an integral
approach to education. Dadi Gulzar is additional administration head to support Dadi Janki.
5 Divine Virtues ka board. The 36 virtues easy to read, not as to easy to practice. It is a continuous journey of improving oneself.
6 Opposite Pandav Bhawan is the Om Shanti Bhawan. U see Universal Peace Hall. Whole place is an oasis of peace. Loved it. Good weather at Mount Abu helps too.
7 The hall has a huge auditorium i.e. used for discourses. It has a capacity of 1600 people, was built in 1983. As I entered the hall
a volunteer gave a short and useful discourse on spirituality. Hall has facility for simultaneous translation in 16 languages. It was about 1 noon so had lunch at their canteen. Satvic and tasty food.
8 This is famous NAKKI Lake at Mount Abu, minutes away from Pandav Bhawan. Brown colour pole in center of pic is a amusement park. It has a car that goes up gradually from
ground level to top of pole so that u get a very good view of Mount Abu.
9 About 15 minutes drive from Pandav Bhawan, ahead of Dilwara Temples, is Gyanasarovar. It is a residential retreat with rooms, an auditorium, a lovely garden that you see and a museum.
Again helpful volunteers show u around. Complex is very clean and full of positive energy.
10 Beautifully landscaped. Here landscaping done on natural rock formation, end of pic hut is Meditation Hall. All over Gyanasarovar landscaping is super and lots of greenery. Loved it. Sets the
tone for meditation. It is spread over 28 acres.
11 Auditorium where discourses are held. The hall can seat 1600 people & translate discourse in 16 languages simultaneously. It has seminar and training rooms, 3 man-made lakes that water
the 15,000 trees.
12 Has Internal Spiritual Art Gallery. Concept is `The World of Tomorrow - Paradise on Earth`. Image of Lord Vishnu who symbolises the perfection, balance & equity achieved by man and women in the golden age.
The perfect woman Lakshmi and the perfect man Narayan create a perfect family life. The mace symbolises self-mastery. Conch shell is blown, truth is spoken. The Lotus, symbol of purity
means cleanliness of mind & heart. The wheel of self-realization means how to become aware of how the soul travelled through time & forgot it`s true self.
13 There was a time of complete peace and happiness on Earth, when the world was beautiful & bountiful. The people who lived here were the most elevated and so, were called deities. Now
God has descended again to re-establish that world of purity, divinity and peace. It is Swarag or Heaven or Paradise. Painting on wall symbolises heaven.
14 BK also run a Global Hospital and Research Centre in Mt Abu. It provides free medical treatment to the poor & needy. It regularly conducts outreach programs esp. in rural areas. Very
impressive facility. Some of departments are Orthopaedic, Surgery, De-addiction, Plastic surgery, Homeopathy, Ayurveda & Panchkarma, Diabetic Clinic, Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Eyes and
Magnetotherapy. It was set up in 1990.
15 Family from Gurgaon in the park next to Nakki Lake. Dressed in local costume. What I found missing in Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh & Manipur are photographers who dress u in local clothes
and click a pic. These memories are forever.
16 From here on pictures of Shantivan i.e. at Abu road. This is a small but most prominent meditation hall. All through the campus there are meditation halls like this. This one is called
Tapasya Dham.
17 This is Diamond Hall. Built in 1996 this pillarless hall can accommodate about 20,000 people. Shantivan has another large hall that can house 1200. It also has 6 smaller halls with capacity of
350 people each.
18 A closer view of the hall. This is spectacular. Not seen anything like this before. Hall overflows with positive energy.
19 In the complex is a full-fledged studio building that you see. It is 6 storeys. Has 3 state of art Video Studios with Hi-Tech Tecnology summarised in its Lighting Systems, Control rooms with
audio-visual switchers and facility of remote operation of cameras. It has a Preview Theatre that I found very impressive. It has Animation department and Audio Recording Studio.
20 This greets you when you enter the Godlywood Studio. The Editing team is supported with FCP Software. Its essence is Integrity with Diversity. It has departments that can run programs on
Indian languages namely Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam and Telegu.
21 Main studio - program in progress. It also has a studio in NOIDA. BK runs Peace of Mind channel,
22 This is one of the many residential buildings called TRILOK in the Manmohinivan complex in Abu road. Residential facility in Abu road is for about 15,000 people.
23 Meditation Hall in a residential complex. Residential rooms are kept very clean.
24 A program for Information Technology professionals was in progress during my visit.
25 This program was for ordinary beings like you and me. Speaker made complex topics simple and related spirituality to your day to day life. To know about Renewal Energy at BK centers in India Click Here
26 About 2 kms from Shantivan is solar plant. "In spring of 2017 BK and WRST completed installation of `India One`, a 1MW Solar thermal power plant. This research project
uses the in-house developed 60 m² parabolic dish and features an innovative thermal storage for night operation. The 60 m² dish is a new development based upon 20 years of experience with
parabolic concentrators. "India One" will generate heat and power for a campus of 25,000 people."
27 Close up of solar panels. BK have planted more than 2,000 trees around the solar plant. This plant is at the foothills in the midst of nowhere. To read more about Renewal Energy Click Here
28 This kitchen pic symbolises Brahma Kumaris for me. I found people to be doing their duty selflessly, happily without chatter and ego. Whatever they did was an expression of love for another.
I am lucky to visit BK in Abu road and Mount Abu. Caption details taken from Brahma Kumari publications and site. All credits to them. To see album on Abu road Kitchen Click Here