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Providing solace to the suffering people of Western Khandesh
in North Maharashtra region, Dhamma Sarovar, set up
by Khandesh Vipassana Vishvastha Mandal, is fast taking
the shape of an important Dhamma Center of the country. Set
up in 1994, and now spread over 36 acre(16 hectare) of land,
Dhamma Sarovar, symbolizes purity, simplicity, and kind-heartedness
of the people of the region. Dhamma sarovar is situated at
about 14 km from the Dhule city, near Tikhli village.
It can be reached both from the Mumbai-Agra and Surat-Aurangabad
highways. Situated adjacent to the Dadergaon lake and
not too far from Lulling Ghat, Dhamma Sarovar campus provides
ideal natural environment for the students of Vipassana meditation.
The Campus
The campus has all the essential facilities required for
Vipassana meditation courses, including cells for individual
meditation in the Pagoda. There are 40 cells in the
newly constructed Pagoda, eight more are under construction
on the first floor. The Dhamma Hall can accommodate up to
about 80 participants (50 male and 30 female).
After Dhamma Giri at Igatpuri, Dhamma Sarovar is the only
regular Vipassana meditation center in Maharashtra State to
have the facility of individual meditation cells in Pagoda.
Other centers in India with this facility are at Hyderabad,
Jaipur, Bada-Kutch, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Sonepat, Dehradun,
etc.
A newly created small oval shaped Sarovar (pond of water)
near the Pagoda, now truly justifies the name 'Dhamma Sarovar'.
The periphery of the pond provides strolling path to the male
meditators. Watching the reflection of the Pagoda building
in the pond in a full-moon night can fill anyone with ecstasy.
The campus has plenty of shade and greenery due to plantation
of several thousand trees; most of it is irrigated by drip
system. The trees have become home to several kinds of birds.
Very soon several hundred more trees will be planted and finally
drip system would take care of all plantation. The area surrounding
Dhamma Sarovar is dotted with several small hills. Arrival
of monsoon rains in June lays a lush green carpet on the whole
region; the Dadergaon lake over flows into a small canal that
partly forms the boundary of the campus. The sound of the
gushing water down the canal washes away all memory of the
scorching summer. As a result the whole atmosphere becomes
deeply soothing and psychedelic.
Climate
Round-the-year climate is typically hot summer during March
to May, with temperature shooting up to 45 ºC (about
113 Fahrenheit). The heat is ended by monsoon showers, which
normally arrive in the first week of June and continue till
mid-September. Rainy season transforms the whole region to
panoramic lush-green. Winter during December - January is
rather mild from Western standards, with barometer at 5 ºC
(about 41 Fahrenheit) at the lowest levels.
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