Mark Zuckerberg rekindled his positive energy at this Uttarakhand ashram

It was the <g data-gr-id="42">non-descript</g> Dayanand Ashram near the banks of Ganga in Rishikesh that caught media attention last month when Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a visit on September 11 to call on his ailing spiritual guru Swami Dayanand Giri. The guru then died on September 24, when his protégé was in <g data-gr-id="40">USA</g> on an official tour.

Now, Kainchi Dham Ashram on Kosi River at Kainchi village established by Neem Karoli Baba near Nainital is in the media spotlight for <g data-gr-id="32">it’s</g> Zuckerberg connection. Interestingly, both Ashrams were built near holy rivers way back in 1963, and founders of both the ashrams were not original inhabitants of Uttarakhand.

Vinod Chandra Joshi, the manager of Kainchi Ashram is busy all though the day answering e-mails and phone calls on Facebook CEO Marc Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs’ past visit to the ashram and the life-story of its founder Babaji who died in 1973.

On September 27 when PM Modi was at the Facebook headquarters, company CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that during his struggling days, he visited India and stayed in a temple built near the hills. Later, it was discovered to be the Hanuman temple in the premises of Neem Karoli Baba Ashram almost midway on Nainital-Almora highway.

Zuckerberg said at the famous Facebook Town Hall that he returned home with positive vibrations which helped him establish Facebook, which is now the leading social networking site with <g data-gr-id="31">maximum number</g> of users from all over the world.

While talking to Millennium Post on Zuckerberg’s sojourn at the ashram, a resident refers to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who writes in Art of Living that “There are some people who work very hard but are still not successful. This is because there is some element which is missing, there is a vibration within us that is weak; a negative vibration. Meditation is necessary to remove this negative vibration.”

Neem Karoli Baba was an ardent devotee of Lord Hanuman and he built several temples of this deity. On Rishikesh-Haridwar road, the 27- foot high Hanuman idol called Veerbhadra naturally catches the attention of tourists. Baba brought this piece of land on lease for the construction of the Hanuman temple from the Department of Forest way back in the 1960s. Later, this temple came into existence in 1984 following sincere efforts by his disciple, Siddhi Ma.