About us
Ananda Kalyani welcomes you to experience our work and life. We are a project dedicated to the service of all; a venue at which you can learn about and experience a hopeful and purposeful vision of life; and a spiritually based community where you can find your bliss and dive deeply within. You are invited to read and know more about who we are, what we do and where we enjoy being so very much.
Ananda Kalyani – The Master Unit project
Ananda Kalyani is a pioneering Integrated Rural Development (IRD) project of Ananda Marga dedicated to spirituality, local development and holistic regeneration, encompassing environmental, economic, and social aspects. Our aim is to serve as a model and educational hub for sustainable and regenerative living in the 21st century.
Nestled in the heart of Portugal, near the Serra da Estrela Natural Reserve, Ananda Kalyani has been transformed from a lush, abandoned valley into a vibrant, habitable space over the past few years. We work in collaboration with several organizations such as EcoAtivo (Ecology & Environment), ARTivos (Art & Culture), PRIP (Economy & Politics), Pequena Ilha Verde (Education), and Amurt (Humanitarian Aid), to create thriving projects, events, and partnerships.
Our property spans 50 hectares, featuring wild forests, a picturesque river, scattered ruins, small springs, and wild fruit trees, and 11 hectares of certified organic agricultural land. We offer camping and caravan spaces, Casa & Praça Dharma – our activity hall, dining area, and dormitory, Dhyana Mandir – our meditation yurt, and outdoor facilities including sawdust toilets and hot showers. With the newly built Guest House, our place became even more comfortable for those who value all the goods that the modern houses can provide.
In 2010, we set out to find land in Serra da Estrela to build and establish an Ananda Marga Master Unit in Portugal. The dream was to create a model integrated development project and blissful community for collective spiritual practice, self-realization and service to all beings. That dream is what we now call Ananda Kalyani. Our community has grown over the past 12 years from a small group of visionaries and an overgrown and desolate land into a recognized Master Unit, GEN European ecovillage and ERASMUS+ Partner. We host youth exchanges, training courses, events, workshops, and retreats, and have formed lasting connections with a global Ananda Kalyani family.
Vision
A safe and vibrant settlement rooted in conscious all-round sustainability – social, economic and environmental – acting as a service, research & learning center. Ananda Kalyani provides a journey from a holistic perspective, where individuals, by moving together in harmony with nature and the surrounding community, can realize their full inner potential and outward actions.
Mission
To create a way of living and learning inside an environment that is supportive, inclusive and in harmony with nature. The main focus areas are related to deep ecology, sustainable agriculture, vegetarianism, learning, art, spirituality, social service, and social activism, as tools for conscious regenerative sustainability.
Our Aims
Regenerative living
To create a model for 21st-century living based on universal love and all-round service, which will become a replicable educational, research and valuable resource for the local region and society at large.
Social Service
To help improve the quality of life of all living beings, both human and non-human, and to create a supportive environment which provides for the needs of the residents and the surrounding community of Cova da Beira.
Social Hub
To bring together people who are interested in the study of their own consciousness, in music and the arts, education, culture, health, economics and innovative scientific techniques. To those who want to create a better world.
Local economy
To strengthen local communities and the surrounding region by helping them to become self-reliant in basic necessities such as food and energy, and to create more employment opportunities, preferably through cooperatives.
Conscious lifestyle
To promote a healthy and ecologically conscious lifestyle that includes spiritual practice, a vegetarian/vegan diet, joyful and appropriately challenging recreation, respect and protection of nature and biodiversity.
Want to learn more?
The primary framework for creating our project is the idea of the Master Unit. Learn about the key elements that form Ananda Kalyani and why it lies at the core of our values.
Behind every significant project, there is a team investing their time and energy to make things happen. Get to know the people building the project behind the scenes.