SRI PREMANANDA ASHRAM
"In the Ashram it is not important what caste or religion you belong to. It is not necessary for me to know how much wealth or property you have, or what your academic qualifications are. It is a place for everyone to qualify for the spiritual life and to learn to live a simple life. Another purpose of the Ashram is to help needy and destitute children. The Ashram is a place of spirituality, giving service and doing good to fellow beings..."
Swami Premananda
The Sri Premananda Ashram is situated 20 kms from Trichy on the Trichy - Madurai Highway. Over the last 20 years the once desert-like area has been transformed into a great garden filled with numerous plants, bushes and trees. The buildings, which are built in a simple way with palm leaf or clay tiled roofs, are all set in the lush gardens.
There are many children and adults living in and utilizing the facilities of Sri Premananda Ashram. The Ashram residents come from various cultural and religious backgrounds from India, Sri Lanka, and other countries and participate in the Ashram’s various spiritual and charitable activities.
There are visitor's rooms, an administrative office, a library, a meditation room, a small dispensary, dormitories for the children, a large kitchen and a dining hall. In the Ashram Pooja Hall traditional rituals and bhajans (devotional singing) are conducted daily.
Devotees from all over the world come to the Ashram all year round and for special festivals such as Mahashivaratri, Guru Poornima or Swami's birthday.
There are many Sri Premananda Centres, Groups, and Youth Groups around the world, where devotees come together regularly, perform traditional rituals, practice meditation, sing bhajans or join together for service activities.
THE ASHRAM'S CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
Since its very beginning Sri Premananda Ashram has always been a place of charity and service to the poor and needy.
Children's HomeHundreds of children live in the Sri Premananda Ashram. These children, some orphans and many who have only one parent, come from deprived backgrounds. In the Ashram they receive accommodation, food, medical care and a good education free of charge.
Premananda High School
The Ashram runs its own High School for both the Ashram children and poor children from the surrounding villages. Started in 1994, it has been teaching these children from first to tenth standard with a very high success rate in public exams. Apart from the school the Ashram also provides classes in classical singing, Bharatha Natyam (classical dance), art, yoga and music for the children.
The Ashram also encourages its children to follow higher studies and courses including university degrees.
Service for the Local Population
The Ashram carries out restoration and cleaning of village temples, distributing food parcels and clothing to the poor, helping individual poor families to build houses or to start up their own income source, helping them to conduct their marriage ceremonies and much more.