Shanti Anand Ashram

Establishing Shanti Anandashram

After His release from Rajahmundry  jail, Sri Thakur spent about a year travelling through different villages in Ganjam District, on his preaching mission.

In 1936 he returned to his Ashram at Karamala and never moved out thereafter. The Ashram was named as SHANTI ANANDASHRAM and the place designated as SHANTIDHAM.

Sri Thakur’s Divine frame attracted thousands of devotees from all corners of Orissa, Andhra, Madras and Bengal as well. Shanti Anandashram grew steadily into a place of pilgrimage. A mere sight or touch of the feet of Sri Thakur, was enough to many a devotee, to fill their hearts with inexplicable joy and happiness.

Thakur Sri Abhiram Paramahansa Deva was an “AVATAR” (Divine Incarnation) in the sense that Divinity in Him was spontaneously revealing itself before anyone who has sincere Prema Bhakti towards the Divine.

About five hundread years before, the Avatar of Lord Caitanya (1486 – 1534 A.D.) displayed to the world what Divine Love was like. Lord Caitanya was sometimes still like a stone, sometimes trembling like a tree in a storm, sometimes profusely shedding tears of love and ecstasy and so on. These are features or external symptoms of the intensity of devotion.

In the Avatar of Sri Thakur one experiences an altogether a different play of Divinity. Devotees coming from far off places, would dance and cry in devotional ecstasy at the very sight of the Master. The whole atmosphere gets surcharged with devotional emotion and everyone present shed tears of love and experience ecstatic bliss. It is a unique experience, beyond words or expression. Each one has to experience it himself to know what it is.

Thakur Sri Abhiram Paramahansa Deva shed his mortal frame and attained Mahasamadhi on November 27th 1963, Wednesday, Kartika Sukla Ekadasi at Shanti Anandashram, as per his own will.

Although now we are not able to see the gross body (Sthula Sarira) of Sri Thakur, a sincere and ardent devotee even at present time experiences the same feelings of ecstatic emotions on entering the Samadhi Mandhir at Shanti Anandashram.