Please read this thoroughly before coming to stay with us.
Sadhana Forest is a community of people from all over the world.
People of all ages and abilities are welcome to come to stay and get involved with us. Our experience with guests, from all over the world, has been very positive. They have created here a vibrant community atmosphere. Living and participating together, and sharing our experiences brings us into harmony with nature and ourselves. One of our community members put it very nicely in her letter to us when she left: “May there be many more forests to grow people”.
We are happy to welcome guests here any time of the year and always have plenty of space for them! We are fully committed to accept everyone that wishes to stay here and help recreate the forest. If you wish to join us, kindly fill out this contact form. You will receive an email will all the relevant information that you need to know in order to stay with us.
Community members will not smoke cigarettes, use drugs, or drink alcohol, inside or outside of Sadhana Forest, during their entire stay. Only come to Sadhana Forest if you are 100% sure that you are able and willing to completely respect this. This guideline helps us stay always fully aware of our behavior, and maintains our personal health, safety and security. Those who do not respect this policy will have to immediately leave Sadhana Forest for a period of at least 6 months.
Arrival and Accommodations
We welcome new guests on weekdays between 5:30AM and 6:00PM. Guests arriving before noon may choose either to join a seva team immediately or to rest and admire our beautiful living space until lunch. We serve lunch at 12:45PM and can give a full introduction, including tour and registration, between 2PM and 6PM.
Guests may also arrive on weekends between 9:00AM and 5:00PM. Please be aware, though, that the community is likely to be very quiet: there is no forest seva on the weekends, nor is there any lunch served inside Sadhana Forest.
We highly recommend arriving during daylight hours. If you will be arriving earlier or later, please inform us in advance.
Please be aware that we ask that each of our guests commit to a minimum amount of time with us. This is meant to ensure the smooth functioning of the community and the best experience for all involved.
For Indian citizens or residents, the minimum stay is 4 nights.
For foreign residents, the minimum stay is 10 nights.
For those aged 45 or above, the minimum stay is 4 nights.
For families with one or more children, the minimum stay is 4 nights.
The minimum stay duration is doubled if you arrive between December 15 and January 15.
Many choose to stay for a few months or more. We are very interested in long term participants/interns staying with us for a period of twelve months or longer. Please email us at fellowships@sadhanaforest.org for details about committing to a longer stay.
Our Aim
Our main project is the reforestation of 70 acres of severely eroded land. We are working to recreate the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest which is indigenous to our area. This forest type is found only in Southern India and Sri Lanka and provides a rare biological richness due to its very high species abundance (over 1000 species of trees, shrubbery and liana). The Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest is now close to total extinction as only 0.01% survives. This is a last moment effort to keep this very rich and beautiful Forest on earth. As part of our reforestation effort we are also working on water conservation and soil management. No skills are required for this effort, just a willingness to help the forest. For more information about our Seva (selfless service) please go to: Sadhana Forest India. For information about our project in south-east Haiti please see: Sadhana Forest Haiti. For more information about our project in northern Kenya please see: Sadhana Forest Kenya.
Our Way of Life
We practice an eco-friendly way of life including: veganism, alternative construction, solar energy, biodegradable toiletries, recycling, food composting, compost toilets, and purchasing local, organic foods whenever possible.
We do not charge for accommodations for guests. We engage in seva (selfless service) for an average of 25-35 hours per week which includes additional community shifts such as cooking meals, cleaning after meals, maintaining solar panels. etc. Participants mainly plant, mulch, and water trees during the planting season, work on water conservation in the forest and around the community, maintain the community area, and spend time with the community children.
Free facilities include free 24/7 unlimited access to the internet with your own device, five hours each day (excluding Fridays) of AC power to charge electrical items (sun permitting), a small library, and a playground for children. There are also daily workshops offered that are run by our community members and vary each week.
Our Meals
At Sadhana Forest we eat a pure vegan diet, which means no animal products from living or deceased animals. We eat fruits, vegetables, rice, millets, beans, and dal. Sadhana Forest is an ecosystem restoration project that does not generate any income; therefore we unfortunately cannot afford to provide free food for volunteers. We share the cost of our 100% vegan meals equally. The total cost of food per person is 600 INR per day (just under 8 USD per day). This price is subject to change based on the economy of India. Please contact us before planning your trip to make sure you have the correct, current information.
Auroville
Sadhana Forest is part of the international community of Auroville, 6km north of Pondicherry, in Tamil Nadu, South India.
Auroville offers a wealth of courses, classes, workshops and treatments in many areas of interest, including yoga, meditation, tai chi, shiatsu, watsu (water shiatsu), free dance and many other kinds of alternative healing therapies. For more information on Auroville please visit www.auroville.org
We look forward to welcoming you to Sadhana Forest soon!
Kindly contact us for more details.
