Madhuban - The Head Quarters
Pandav Bhavan - (Forest Of Honey)
In the north of the enchanting land of India, the Aravali Mountains rise from the parched desert plains of Rajasthan. Chief among them is Mount Abu. In ancient texts and folklore, Abu is praised as a holy place, and is associated with the names of sages and seers. Even today, numerous temples and hermitages are to be found in the area. Many former Rajput Kings built their palaces and summer houses-several of which have stood the test of time-in the surrounding hills. Nestled in the cool heights of the mountains is the rustic hill station of Mount Abu and, just a 10-minute walk away, you find the international headquarters of Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa-Vidyalaya , fondly called 'Madhuban' (meaning 'Forest of Honey'). A living social laboratory and a largely self-sufficient community, it is the place to which a large international family of practicing yogis comes each year. When a person steps inside the holy land of Madhuban, one can feel pure spiritual vibrations that give immense experience of lasting peace and inner joy not available elsewhere. This is because it is the place of divine descent of incorporeal God Shiva; it has long been the karma bhoomi(the land of divine actions) of the founder father Prajapita Brahma and Mateshwari Saraswathi. It is the place where thousands of spiritual effort makers converge to do intense meditation and as a result one could see for themselves the peaceful vibrations evident in the campus. When you discover the true inner happiness and peace and forget the burden on the soul , you would realize that Madhuban is the greatest pilgrim center.
In the Madhuban campus, the principal attractions are the Meditation Hut, Meditation Room and Tower of Peace. Meditation Hut is the place where our founder father, Adidev Prajapita Brahma did intense meditation for spreading vibrations of peace for all the souls of the world. As the name denotes and as one could feel, the Tower of Peace is the tower from where peaceful vibrations emanate for the benefit of the entire world. It is the place where the mortal remains of the founder father were laid to rest. The Universal Peace Hall, also known as 'Om Shanti Bhawan', is the main hall on the Vishwa-Vidyalaya campus An attractive, free-spanning structure, the hall seats 3,000 people and has translation facilities for sixteen languages. The hall has been the venue of major annual international conferences since its construction in 1983 and is visited daily by over 8,000 tourists.
Madhuban hosts a minimum of 35,000 residential guests annually and is home to 500 permanent residents, who operate the 42 departments required to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the constant row of visitors and students from around the world. One department looks after accommodation, others take care of laundry, transport gardens, audio-visual, electrical supplies, sanitation and so on. The kitchen can cater meals for upto 4,000 people at a time; additional specialised kitchens produce toli (much- favoured sweets prepared by cooks in a meditative state of mind) and 'chai', a spiced Indian tea. Everyone works in the atmosphere of harmony, and guests are often amazed as the tasks are accomplished without any obvious direction of supervision.