Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, is a branch of the Ramakrishna Math, founded on 19 March 1899 at the
behest of Swami Vivekananda, by his
disciples Captain James Henry Sevier, and Mrs Charlotte Sevier. Today it is
entrusted with the publication of the original writings of Swami Vivekananda.
As an ashram dedicated to the study and practice of Advaita Vedanta, no images or idols are worshipped
here, not even of Sri Ramakrishna and no images were kept in the
premises according to the Ashram ideals set by Swami Vivekananda himself.
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Also referred as the Mayawati Ashram, it
is located at an altitude of 1940 meters, 22 km from Champawat in Champawat district,Uttarakhand, and 9 km from the town of Lohaghat.
Advaita Ashrama is a major publication centre of the Ramakrishna Order for
books in English and Hindi, mainly through its branch in Kolkata, and also maintains a
charitable hospital at Mayavati. Among its important publications are The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda in English and as well as a Hindi translation, The Life of Swami Vivekananda, and
English translations of important Hindu scriptures.
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Some of the old manuscripts of
the Ashram have now been microfilmed and preserved at Indira
Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), Delhi.
History
The Advaita Ashram has its
origins in 1896, when Swami Vivekananda was travelling through the Alps recuperating, and expressed the desire to have
a similar place in India, for retreat and study of Vedas.
Earlier, in 1895, Captain
James Henry Sevier who
had served the British Indian Army for five years, and his wife Charlotte Elizabeth
Sevier, met Swami Vivekananda in England. Later in 1896, for nearly nine
months, they travelled with him through Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. It was
at the Alps that Swami Vivekananda, while travelling with
the couple that he expressed his desire to have a similar retreat for the monks
in the Himalayas. So, in December 1896,
