Mount Mahabharat Spiritual Spot and Farm Stay

Namaste!

I am Lotus Nepal, owner, founder & operator of this retreat center & eco-organic farm. I'm 33 years old & live here with my family on this farm stay.

If you want to cheap and best place without volunteer work we are here for US$15 per day for everything included 3 times organic vegetarian/ vegan food, tea, drinking water, milk, drinking water, free WiFi, private room, daily yoga/meditation, hot shower, room heater (in cold season) and many more.....

We provide services to 15 travelers at a time. This place is a great destination for respectful, nature loving people who want to volunteer & enjoy sharing time with us. We are sure that experiences you have here will be the one of most memorable moments in your life & ours!

***New Update***
Opportunity to contribute herbal farms!

The Mahabharata hill at an altitude of 3000 meters above sea level is a beautiful place where we are living. Tourism and agriculture are our main occupations. Due to pandemic of Covid-19, our main occupation, tourism, has been greatly affected and the traditional agricultural system here is only subsistence oriented, so survival is quite tough. Being poor with the natural assets is a shame, so we have to think twice. We know, this unfavorable situation can be another opportunity for transformation. We have enough and suitable land where valuable herbs can be grown naturally. We are making good plan on these land to run commercial herb farming and nursery as a farmstay which we want to make a sustainable profession.

Time has taught us that the profession of herbal production will be more stable in the world than any other profession. It is an essential commodity for the human beings.

The initial stages of every work are difficult, we are also going through the pain of giving birth to an important thing in this adverse situation and the upcoming ptoject that will benefit the common human beings of the world.
Anyone who likes this campaign can help us with 3 options:

1. donation.
You can help by donating to this campaign. We welcome your invaluable donation.
2. volunteering.
You can help with this campaign through your service where we will charge a small fee for your food accommodation.
3. investment.
You can invest financially in this campaign. Once our production starts, we will refund your investment amount with bonus.

We hope you will be the part of this campaign.

***Accommodation***

Free 24 hour wifi & electricity, warm shower, campfire, fresh spring water, freshly harvested/ organic/vegetarian meals, yoga/meditation, mountain hiking, beautiful sunrise &sunset views, unpolluted environment and living conditions.

Our farm is located 45km southeast from Kathmandu at more than 2100 meters above sea level.

We live above a remote, small village on the edge of Mahabharat mountain range. The village is surrounded by green forest with special flowers. Here we have tranquility & silence! Listen to the sounds and silence of nature and practice meditation, cool off in a nearby mountain stream, and hike on clear days to see a 180 degree view of the beautiful Himalayas!

The top of Bethanchok Narayan Hill on Mahabharat range is at 3018 meters above sea level & is the highest altitude in the district. From this point Mount Everest, Annapurna, Langtang, Ganesh, Jugal & 100 more Himalayans along with hills, Mahabharat range, Chure Mountain, open spaces of Terai & Bihar in India can be observed. Ladku River flows at 1400 meters above sea level between the boundaries of the lowest points of the village: Gorkholi & Kunekharka. You can pray homage to Lord Vishnu, the Hindu god at Narayanstan Temple. It takes two hours trekking to Bethanchok Narayan Hill & on the way we can visit a cave.

We have 25 kinds of different vegetables, more than 200 different herbs in this area. We have a small bee farm & our guests can have the real flavor of pure organic honey. We have a cow & a buffalo so we can offer guests fresh pure milk.

***Pricing***

Visitors need warm clothes for winter & light clothes for summer. Please dress modestly out of respect for our culture.
For volunteers who work (3-5 hours/day, 5 days/week), weather permitting, we charge $9 USD per day.
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For guests who don't work, we charge $15 USD per day
for minimum stay of 7 days.
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Trekking/Hiking charge is $10 USA per day with water & food
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Volunteers & guests get one extra day free of charge for every 7 days they stay (for example, if you stay Monday through Sunday, the next day is free).
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Guided yoga and meditation are donation based.
We charge $10 USD for a 6 hour guided hike up Mount Mahabharat that includes snacks and water.
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We respectfully ask that no illegal drugs are brought or used here on our farm. This is for respect of the local community. Alcohol (taken responsibly) & tobacco are acceptable.

Quiet hours are 10pm - 7am

***Farming***

1. We are building an earthquake proof house for yoga/meditation. Yoga and meditation are always donation based for everybody. Interested volunteers can support us; skilled as well as unskilled manpower.
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2. We are building a wet sauna volunteers can help on wet sauna & learn as well.
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3. We have very small bee & shiitake mushrooms farm. Volunteers can help us build more bee houses, take care of our bees & mushroom & grow mushroom.
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4. We need farm hands to cut & carry grass, plant, cut & collect herbs, plow, water, weeding & do other farm related chores like milking cows.
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5. There are many secret herbs around the Mahabharat hill where our farm is located. Of these, more than 200 valuable herbs have been identified. We are commercially conserving and producing the herbs in this area, including the agricultural and forest areas. For this, we have set up a nursery with an agro-forest and herb farm. We invite foreign volunteers at the rate of 11 people per day for one year for this great campaign of producing more than hundred thousands plants per year and producing organic fruits and herbs which are in increasing demand in the world market. We firmly believe that this campaign will be worthwhile for you and us to do something to reduce the effects of climate change on the world
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6. We need some photographer, videographer & web developer for this place volunteer can help us.
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7. We need some volunteer who can do online marketing for farm, homestay and retreat.


***About Dhunkharka***

The history of Dhunkharka is connected with a streak of tigers. According to legend, years ago when the place was an uninhabited mountain range, tigers used to live here. One day two people of Newari ethnicity from nearby settlement came to Parthali, near the boundaries of Dhunkharka & Chalal. From there they saw a tiger sleeping on an open space of now known as Narayantar. Based on what they saw, they named the place Dhunkharka. In Newari language, ‘Dhun’ means ‘Tiger’ and ‘Kharka” means ‘settlement’. Thus, Dhunkharka means ‘place of tiger settlement’ or ‘home of tigers’ in Newari.
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Today, 1500 households reside in this village. Agriculture is the primary occupation & the village produces 15000 liters of milk every day.

***Our Mission***

Staying true to the proverb "Return to nature" in every sense, we work to make it a reality through meaningful development of a nature friendly network, cultivating nature friendly individuals and societies, and operating an ecosystem based tourism industry through economical utilization of our resources.

***How To Get To Our Place***

Option #1 Public Bus:

Take a bus from Ratna Bus Park (in Kathmandu) to Panauti. Buses are available every 5 minutes. Get on a bus before 1:00 pm so you can make it to Panauti in time for the next bus. The journey is about 1.5 hours. You pay 60 rupees.
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At the Panauti bus park, get on a bus to Dhunkharka and message Kamal.The last bus leaves at 5:00pm. The journey is about 1.5 hours. Pay 60 rupees when you get off at the Dhungkharka Geldung Bazaar/town centre. We will meet you there and walk uphill with you for about 1 hour. If your baggage is heavy, let us know in advance and we can arrange a porter to carry it to our place.

Option #2 Public Bus Direct

Take the direct bus from Ratna Bus Park (in Kathmandu) to Dhunkharka and message Kamal when you are on your way. These direct buses cost 115 rupees and only leave at these specific times: 6:00 am, 7:00am, 8:00am, 10:00am, 11:0am, 12:00pm, 2:00pm, 3:00pm, 4:00pm.
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Pay 155 rupees when you get off at the Dhungkharka Geldung Bazaar/town centre. We will meet you there and walk uphill with you for about 1 hour. If your baggage is heavy, let us know in advance and we can arrange a porter to carry it to our place.

Option #3 Private vehicle pickup: We can arrange a private car from Kathmandu airport

Safe travels!

If you want to know more, please visit our website on www.mountmahabharat.com

Thank you very much!

I am Lotus Nepal, owner, founder & operator of this retreat center & eco-organic farm. I'm 33 years old & live here with my family on this farm stay. ***Perspective & Lifestyle*** Adhering to the famous proverb ‘Return to Nature’, I’m on a mission to make myself & others healthy through chemical free produce. I'm at peace in my peaceful environment & want to share this sense of peacefulness with others. I reside at an extremely beautiful place from where much geographical diversity can be seen. I’d like to welcome people of the world to come & enjoy this together. - I don’t consume or use any violence related products because I believe that would be doing injustice or promoting injustice towards other life forms. I’m bounded by a belief, with a stirring law, which I’ll always follow & in some ways has restricted me as well. Avoiding distortions like smoking, alcoholism, non-vegetarianism & prostitution has liberated my life from problems & provided a sense of infinite peace through teaching of meditation, yoga & reflection. I experienced radical change in my thoughts when my faith taught me the meaning of sacrifice. Being content is greater than adding to desires. As a farmer I believe that it is essential what I produce should be beneficial to human health. So, being chemical free is vitally important. - Stricken by poverty my forefathers couldn't afford chemicals. I am seeing the benefits of our past misfortunes now. Today, chemical induced produces have given rise to various diseases. Victims of the illness are then compelled to ingest further chemicals in the form of medicines. - Nature has given us hundreds of herbs to fight against diseases, and as a child who grew up with those herbs, I’m saying to the world that threats can never be friendly to mankind and environment but natural things will always be. Nature has taught me many things & inspired me to share them with the world. I’ve witnessed many benefits of natural growth. - If all nations of the world produced pollution then the people of the world would have to pay for the air they breathe, fertile lands would turn into deserts, mountains would be snowless & human existence would be in a crisis. Therefore, to avoid any possible threats to the world it is necessary that the most conscious social life-form, humans, should become mankind and environment friendly & protect the greenery. - In my opinion, the world’s greatest hero is he whose speech & character has uniformity & who inspires his world around him to become nature friendly. - However, I don't want to discuss too much about this subject. Lastly, I expect creative comments & feedback from my website visitors, which will provide meaning to my personal aim as well as the proverb ‘Return to Nature’.