Ashramming in India: Spiritual tourism on speed

An influx of newly spiritualized travellers escaping no-end-in-sight job insecurity and looking for shortcuts to inner peace have begun searching for quick fixes by ‘ashramming’ in and around Mumbai.

Essentially the act of 'cramming' traditionally lengthy meditative questing in an ashram into as short a time as possible, even a single weekend, 'ashramming' seems poised to influence a growing segment of tourism to India in the coming years.

Players on the ashramming map have done away with the traditional, painful method of spending years on a mountaintop growing dreadlocks or dread-nails in search of spiritual salvation. This new breed of seekers is trying to attain mind-body-soul renewal with just a weekend or ten-day turnaround.

The world of ashramming remains limited for now, but these four high profile centers near Mumbai are catering to a growing number of 'evolved travellers.

A three-hour journey from Mumbai on the speedy Mumbai-Pune Expressway lands you at the doorstep of the grandaddy of modern spirituality, the Osho Ashram (17 Koregaon Park, Pune; tel +91 20 6601 9999), home to the Osho International Meditation Resort. This headquarters of global hipsterdom -- visitors pad around in maroon-colored robes -- no longer even pretends to provide anything other than a quick holiday into the infinite. A gourmet vegetarian café on the luxury premises promises to up visitors' vibrational frequency quotient with sublime meals between sessions of yoga, tai-chi and kundalini-clearing.

The world’s tallest freestanding meditation dome at 325 feet, the Vipassana Center at Gorai Beach (Dhamma Pattana, Goraigoan; tel + 91 22 2845 2261) is an hour’s drive from Mumbai. Here practitioners learn the same breathing technique that created the spiritual critical mass that allowed the Buddha to tip over into full-blown enlightenment. Bollywood celebs and Israeli backpackers learn the basics of breathing and being quiet in a mere ten days. Download a video introduction to Vipassana here.

No systems, methods or practices are prescribed at this suburban Mumbai ashram (Brahmagiri, Plot No. 5, Sector 20, Nerul West, Navi Mumbai; tel + 91 22 2772 2385), where even on slow days thousands wait in line to receive hugs from Amma, the transcended South Indian matron famed for changing lives throughout the world with her all-encompassing spirit of love. If all you need is love -- and all you have is an afternoon -- Amma can send you on the path to instant spiritual bliss simply by virtue of her globally renowned clutch. 

Two hours outside Mumbai, The Art of Living Foundation (Triveni Ashram, Markal Village, near Vipasand Kendra, Taluka Khede, Jilla, Pune; tel +91 97659 99123) is a comfortable, non-threatening place to try a five-day stress-elimination and self-development program based mainly on breathing techniques, meditation and yoga. Run by its founder and "living master" Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, The Art of Living Foundation has become a global phenomenon, with a presence in 140 countries and perhaps coming soon to an ashram near you.