Visiting Ma Sharanam

Information about visiting Ma Sharanam

Please read this post first –  Traveling to India.

Some of the information about Ma Sharanam is repeated from the first post, but if this is your first trip to India, please read both!

One note here, and also in the post about travel to India:  If you need to give an address and contact in India, please give Sarabjeet's home information.  Sarabjeetji is Swamiji's brother and is also the business manager for Ma Sharanam.  Use his address for any "official" needs -- and can also be given to family/friends as emergency contact information while you are in India.

Name : Sarabjeet Singh Bharaj

Email : profsarabjeet@gmail.comAddress : 24 A, Sangam Nagar, Indore, pin 452006, M.P. , IndiaMobile : +91 9302001809:  

Other helpful contact information: 

1)  Jasdeep Rai (Jasdeep books the cars for Ma Sharanam visitors, and can also help with domestic flights in India)  

• Jasdeep mobile: 8889510003
• Jasdeep email:   jasdeeprai78@gmail.com 

2)  Swamiji

• Swamiji mobile:   9893111809
• Swamiji email:  gurusharan7@gmail.com

Travel  

Getting to Ma Sharanam:  You will fly into Indore, then hire a car to drive you to the ashram.  It's about a three-hour trip.  

Leaving Ma Sharanam:  Same three-hour trip, but I gave up on figuring out a way to to get to Indore in time for a flight.  I stayed here, and was very happy with the hotel:  Radisson Blu, Indore   There are many reasonably priced hotels in Indore.   (Also, after days of washing in cold water, I really loved having a hot shower before I resumed traveling!)

Clothing at Ma Sharanam:  see the general tips in the “Travel to India” post.  In general, guests dress very informally at the ashram. You are probably not visiting the ashram during the hot season, which means that temperatures will be in the high 90s rather than 110 degrees (plus).  In other words - it will still be HOT. Women should dress very conservatively - shoulders covered, and long pants or leggings.

You want to pack lightly.  The rooms are small. You will not have much space for luggage.  It's better to bring fewer clothes and plan on washing them. Note: if you allow a day (or three) in Delhi or Mumbai, you will be able to buy Indian clothing.

Bring some comfy shorts and tshirts for time spent in your room. (Shorts are not appropriate outside of your room... but great for sleeping and for hanging out inside your room!)

If you think that there is any chance that you will want to swim in the Narmada River - for men, a regular bathing suit is fine.  For women, you will want a bathing suit AND shorts and a t-shirt or a salwaar kameez for covering up. (Note that as of 2018, changing into dry clothes down by the river is... challenging, with no shelter or changing booth available.) If you do want to go down for a swim, let Swamiji know, and he will send a couple of boys down with you for safety. 

Mahashivaratri and other special occasions.... you might want something a little dressier ... even a sparkly scarf will do!

Shoes - you will want sandals, for sure, to wear around the ashram grounds.  (And sandals are easy to remove... you will be taking off your shoes frequently. Very frequently.)  Flip-flops are a good idea too... your entire bathroom is your shower stall. Also, the dust/dirt blows into the rooms from nearby fields.  Good idea to sweep the room every day, and to wear flipflops or other lightweight slippers rather than going barefoot in your room.

Laundry - you will be washing your clothes in a plastic bucket.  Sheets of detergent work well, like these (there are many brands):  laundry soap sheets for traveling   Also, the ashram can provide you with laundry soap, and you may find enough clothespins on the various laundry lines.  (Or take a few clothespins with you!)

Clothes are dried on an outdoors clothesline. Cotton or cotton-blend clothes are the easiest. No one will care (or even notice) that your clothes are a little wrinkled. 

You will want one warm cover for morning prayer - it is chilly at 6AM.  A warm shawl works well, or just a fleece jacket. (You will probably have a fleece - or some other kind of warm top - from the plane, and that will be fine.)  Ditto socks.  Seriously... it is COLD at 6AM!  If you are doing some shopping before you head to the ashram, Indian socks are handy.  Many Indian socks separate the big toe -- same idea as American mittens separating the thumb -- to allow for wearing flipflops with the socks.  Looks something like this:

Bedding and your room: Your room will have two very simple twin beds (wooden platforms with thin mattresses).  The room also has one small desk.  Space for storing luggage is *very* limited!  The ashram provides twin bedding - fitted sheet, top sheet, one blanket, and a pillow.  The sheets are sort of a rough weave. And the previous guest(s) washed them in a bucket, with cold water, with or without soap. You are welcome to bring a set of twin sheets, or a sleeping bag. At the end of your stay (and also in the middle if you like), you wash those sheets and the pillowcase in your laundry bucket, and hang them on the line to dry. Don't forget to pack laundry soap - laundry sheets work really well. When you are leaving the ashram, wash your sheets and leave them on the clothesline.

The ashram does not provide towels - pack one or two micro-towels. (Or you can pack lovely big fluffy terry towels, if you like... but remember that bit about "not much room for luggage in the room?")

Cleaning your room:  You will have only a broom like this:  

Ma Sharanam is surrounded by dusty fields, and the dust blows nonstop into the guest rooms. Take basic cleaning supplies with you  Just a suggestion... but consider cleaning your room when you arrive at Ma SharanThe ashram folks do try to clean the rooms between guests, but  before you settle in... cleaning your room just sets a good baseline for your stay!   We have seen people re-clean rooms that were just carefully cleaned by the ashram staff, and they still came up with a bunch of dust/dirt, especially on the floor.) Plan on sweeping your floor at least daily.  (And even with all of that, I always washed my feet before I got into bed. Seriously, the dust there is something else!) 

Carrying stuff around with you at Ma Sharanam:  you will likely want tissues, maybe hand wipes, reading glasses, sunglasses, whatever.  If you have pockets, you are all set. If not... women might want to bring or buy a small cross-body purse for a few essentials. (Men are more likely to have pockets... or might want to consider a bag or fanny pack or small backpack for use while at the ashram.)

Locking your room - the ashram will provide a lock and key. You will not need the lock when you are at the ashram, but may want to lock your room when you will be out for the day.

Bathroom:  Your bathroom will have a western style toilet (Yay) but as noted elsewhere, if you want to use toilet paper, you will need to bring it with you. (NOTE:  the bathrooms are equipped with hand-held sprayers for Indian-style bathroom hygiene. Toilet paper/wipes/sanitary products are not flushed at the ashram - the ashram septic system is very fragile.  If you use toilet paper, you discard that paper into bags, and then once a day or so, discard that bag at a designated place. Bring a bag/box of doggie poop bags with you!) (This is odd ... at least in previous years, there was no sign in the bathroom with that information, and bags were not provided.  They just assume that guests will KNOW and will do the right thing!)

You will also have a sink.  And on one wall, a pipe protruding from the wall... this is your access to water for washing. Your options are cold water or room temperature water (warmed in a cistern on the roof). The only option for really warm water is a big immersion heater.  Do not touch the water in the bucket while the immersion heater is plugged in -- you can get a nasty electric shock. I bathed with cold water - I was always so hot, and the cold water was not really very cold, and felt great. You can either maneuver your body under that tap, then soap up, then rinse.... or put the water into a bucket and figure it out from there.  There is no shower stall. All of the water lands on the bathroom floor.  You will find a drain on the floor, and your room comes with a large squeegee. After bathing, you use the squeegee to encourage the water on the floor to move toward that drain.

Food and water at the ashram

Water at the ashram is well-filtered and safe to drink. There is no access to bottled water at Ma Sharanam.  For trips away from the ashram, you will make a stop for bottled water.

Ashram food is simple and plentiful - not very spicy, and no one ever leaves the dining room hungry.
The boys eat breakfast at 8AM.  Guests can eat then, but most guests eat together outside at 9AM. Lunch is noon-ish.  But then there is a long gap until dinner at 8PM.

Snacks - good idea to bring some.  You need snacks in sealed wrappers - Trader Joe has wonderful little bags of raw almonds ("just a handful" or some name like that). Protein bars are good. Just make sure that whatever you bring has individually wrapped servings. You cannot leave *any* food open in your room - not even a few crumbs - food will attract a zillion ants and other small multi-legged  critters.

Note:  as of 2018, the "guest kitchen" was mostly empty, without even an electric teakettle.  So if you will be wanting tea, coffee, or DIY soups, you will need to. bring everything you will need with you.  Sealed treats are great - like little two-cookie packets or sweets or whatever. If you want to have coffee, take a pound of coffee and get one of these, and a coffee travel mug, and some #2 filters:  Drip coffee for travel
Here is the link to really good powdered whole milk, works well in coffee or tea or oatmeal.  Peak Powdered Milk. 
I take some instant oatmeal packets with me.  I also take soup/noodles. Dr. McDougall soups/noodles are good - they are relatively healthy (ie not crazy on the additives), and they taste ok.  You need boiling water, but do not need a microwave. (Just cover the soup or noodles with boiling water, and leave the cup covered for a while.) Having some "real food" -- ie not just a protein bar - can be really helpful for late afternoon when dinner is still four hours away, or for a lunch or dinner where you just do not want to go to the dining room.  To conserve luggage space, I transfer the soups from their cardboard cups into small plastic bags... the oatmeal comes in handy single serving packets.   I take one of these cups with me: Mug for Soup  (You can pack a couple of your small plastic bags of soups or snacks right in the mug.)

If you are spending a night in Indore on your way to the ashram, consider taking a cab to the Big Bazaar.  They have all kinds of helpful stuff... and since you will be going to the ashram in a car, you will not need to worry about packing/luggage weights/etc.  In particular, I loved having an electric teakettle in my room so that I could have coffee in the morning, or a snack whenever, without going outside to the guest kitchen.  If you have an opportunity to buy an electric teakettle, you should consider doing so!  (Or you can take a simple immersion coil with you... but I just loved that teakettle.) You can also buy a mini teakettle on Amazon… but of course will need to deal with power conversion.

Note that there may be various cups and dishes in the guest kitchen - but I would not count on that. Take a travel mug, a spoon, and whatever else you may need, with you!

Travel insurance: This insurance provides peace of mind around health issues - they provide a number to call in case of a health emergency so that they can help you to get the care you need. In the event of a true life-or-death emergency, they will fly you out of India.  I use http://www.travelguard.com.  Read the fine print before you sign up, especially the list of exclusions -- and consider "cancel for any reason" coverage.  (It's pretty expensive.  But at least think about it.)

If you need health care while you are at the ashram, Swamiji may be able to help. If needed, you can call for a car to take you to the clinic in Barawah (about 20 minutes from the ashram). The clinic in Barawah is ok for simple things .... for example, an xray to rule out a broken bone. If the problem is serious, then you will likely be hiring a car and heading back to Indore (about 2.5 hours). Swamiji or others at the ashram will help you figure out what to do and how to do it.

Gifts for the children

180+ kids in the school, 40+ boys in the hostel.

School supplies are always welcome. Candy is always welcome.  (No chocolate!  Remember the bit above about how hot it will be while you are there?  Chocolate takes one look at India and turns into a melty little chocolate puddle.) 

Daily Routine at the ashram ( likely has changed since 2018!)
Very important note - you are welcome to participate in any and all aspects of ashram life!  But - helpfully- no one *expects* you to show up. If a rest or a walk feels like a better idea to you at some point, just go for it. (If you disappear for extended time, someone will likely knock on your door to make sure that you are ok!)

The times and may have changed -- this is *very* approximate. You will not find white boards with lists of events... not the daily events, not the special day trips.  You will need to ASK.

6AM morning prayer with the boys, followed by Swakriya Yoga
7AM fire ceremony
(8:30AM -- at least one morning, go down and watch the children arriving for school, and stay for the morning assembly.  It's all quite wonderful.)
9AM  Guest breakfast
10-12 If a program is scheduled, Swamiji may offer satsang/swakriya yoga in the morning.
12  lunch
1-2 or 3   rest 
3-4  tea is available
3 -5 If a program is scheduled, Swamiji may offer teachings or chanting or yoga in the afternoon.
(5:30 Tuesday and Thursday only -- arati at the Radha-Krishna temple)
6PM  Arati in Ma's temple  (an lovely service of chanting and prayer) 
After arati -- dinner
8:45 to 9:00 -- Maun, the daily great silence requested by Ma

Connectivity at the ashram

In 2018, connectivity at the ashram was very hit or miss. There was a hotspot, but it moved around from person to person and was tricky to track down. We are encouraging the ashram to set up a wireless hotspot for the guest rooms, but we have no guarantee when that will happen. Do not count on connectivity! If you need to find the ashram hotspot device, ask Swamiji. (Also… in 2024, there are many options for international hotspots… and no contract required. Will those work out in the country? I don’t know. Might want to check with Sarabjeet about the current state of connectivity at the ashram.)

Day Trips from Ma Sharanam
There are several -- you can Google them for more information.  

Maheshwar is about an hour away, with lots to see,  and usually includes a short boat trip to a Shiva temple in the river.  

Omkareshwar (with one of the jyotir lingams in the temple) is maybe 1.5 hours. 

Barwah is close - about 45 minutes.  Not much to see there, but fun for a bit of street-shopping in India.  There are other temples and ashrams not far from Ma Sharanam. 
In theory, Indore could be a day trip  - about 2.5 hours from the ashram.  BUT -- if you want to explore Indore, it would make much more sense to spend a day there on your way to the ashram or as you depart from the ashram. Also - fair warning - although there are sights to see in Indore, the city is mostly a business city, not a tourist destination.

Other good stuff to bring:  This is a repeat from my general "Traveling to India" post. 

• Power adapter - you can get this on Amazon or at a travel store.  You do not need an entire set of adapters... just India-US. May need several if you are taking several appliances.
• Mosquito net - February is not mosquito season in Madhya Pradesh.  I do take malaria meds, but I do not use a mosquito net. Your call.
• Small flashlight. Always. In your backpack or purse, but somewhere right on your person.  Power outages are very common in India! You may want a larger flashlight to use when walking back to your room after dinner.
• Flying coach?  Invest in a travel pillow and blanket. Check Amazon for options. 
• Some sort of alarm clock/alarm watch/smart phone alarm.
• Electronic toys... you may want a camera (or phone camera). You can bring your Kindle. See above re connectivity if you want to bring a small laptop.

Donations to the ashram:  Ma Sharanam only asks for free-will donations from guests. All guests are welcome to participate in meals and all programs.  Most guests do make a donation.  You might use 5000 to 7000 rupees per night as guidance – that’s about $70 to $100 per night.

Jai Ma!  Enjoy your stay at Ma Sharanam!