Dhamma Sikhara Vipassana Himachal Meditation Centre

Amazing place and truly a great experience learning the ancient technique of meditation which was long lost in India. 10 days were quiet and peaceful.

They have seperate accommodation for men and women. There are three dhamma (meditation) halls, dining hall and dormitories. This course is solely run on donation basis. Guruji SN Goenka has done a tremendous job bringing this technique back to India from Burma. I highly suggest people to try this out.

It was a bit difficult to sit for hours meditating from early morning till late in the evening and sometimes it was too much but the evening discourse (pravachan) video by Goenka gave a new boost to face the next challenging day.

Bookings open well before two months prior to the course but gets filled in minutes.

The food served here is healthy and tasty as the menu changes every single day.

I will give an example of the menu here:

Breakfast - Tea/Milk, Black channa, Fruits with Poha

Lunch - Veg Thali comprising Rajma Dal, Chawal, Butter Roti, Sabzi, Pickle and Dessert

Evening Refreshments - Tea/Milk, Rusk, Dalia

There are many centres spread throughout the world so that everyone gets a chance to try out this course.

Good place for Vipassana.
In june my friend did her first ever 10 days Vipassana course. Her experience were so nice with good ambience n food.

World's Highest Meditation Point And Top Up Is World's Best Way For DHAMMA.

मंगल हो ।

If you haven't visited this place and taken the learning and experience, you are in a huge loss. I would anyday go here again, even if someone would say they'd send me for an international trip. This trip is worth every hour. And a must for all children and adults.

Amazingly peaceful and silent place for those who wish to learn more about ones true self. Perfect teaching and training in noble silence is a precious gift for everyone who complete a 10 day course here.

This place is wonderful, quite, serene settled in the lap of nature. All the facilities are good, bring mild jackets in monsoons as well.

Set up at the separate hills in Dharamkot, a small village in Mcleodganj, surrounded by the pine trees.

Meditation can never be expressed in words, this journey will be very memorable, I spent 10 days here.sadho sadho sadho.

A beautyful Meditation Center on the top of the hill,
Coverd with lush deodar trees
Pleasant weather
Pease of mind
Life changing experience
Location is easy to find
Staff is very cooperative hand kind.
Good vibes
Postive life approach and postive thinking
Personality development

This is the place where you will get complete isolation, internal peace, satisfaction, awesome environment, hygienic food which is tasty also. They don't charge any fees although you can donate money at the discloser of course. If you really want to learn meditation than this is the place you should go.

I went at the start of the rainy season. There was mould everywhere and only after asking for days was anything done about it. Everything was damp and mouldy and I had to sleep with a scarf over my mouth and nose. It made it very difficult to breathe, and when breathing is a large part of the mediation practice, it was a terrible environment to attempt to meditate in.

The photo of the mattress below is my actual mattress (the underside.wet and mouldy. I think it had been turned over prior to my arrival). Our room leaked onto the beds and floor. My backpack became mouldy and I had to ask for a lemon from the kitchen on the last day to clean it with because there was nothing else to clean with.

We were asking to volunteer to clean on the last day, which I did, but we were not provided anything to clean with, hence nothing was cleaned well. It seemed that it had been that way for quite some time as the bathrooms were filthy. I don't mind simple, and in fact that's the intention of a meditation retreat, but I do mind when the place you go to is unhygienic and unsafe.

The place feels like a jail because of the barbed wire fence and gates separating areas. There were large rusty pieces of metal lying around and open wiring visible in some areas. At 4am on the last morning there was a fire in the power box on the bathroom wall because the electricals were not shielded correctly.

The monkeys are fine but very noisy on the roof when you are attempting to meditate.

The food was amazing.

The actual technique and discourses were enjoyable and helpful.

Unfortunately all of the negatives severely outweighed the positives and I would not recommend anyone to attend this Vipassana centre.

Situated in the city outskirts, peace and calm place, noble silence is maintained in the campus. The center os spread over an area of 10acres, 10 days course is conducted free of cost by the organization. I had been there 3 times; lot of trees, birds. Great place.

I wanted to say that this is the most amazing Vipassana centre across India, but at the same time, being a Vipassi i also feel that Every Centre all around the world has its own charm and uniqueness. So Dhama Shikara is very unique and at a very amazingly beautiful location "Dharamshala"

If you're seeking silence and self realization. If your want to evolve into better person from within, then this is the place for you.

Everyone should do at list one Vipassana that's true.
But is many many centres.
This one is really bold, and you feel in cage because of all the fence they are putting everywhere. They say id because of monkeys, but if you go next door there people eat outside and monkey live a peace life.
About the rooms, the place is really humid, so there is mold and fungus, and I don't tel you the smell. Blanket are never wash.
Don't forget your sleeping bag!
Food provided are really good.

People did not respect noble silence. I was put in a room with a server which should never happen and then moved into another room.very disrupting. I felt like some of the servers were on power trips not all but some. I did not enjoy my experience.

Absolutely wonderful experience. I went there for a 10-days Vipassna course. The place is very quiet and pretty to begin with.
The rooms were very clean, which was the star factor for me. There’s an issue of insects crawling in to the quarters, which is inevitable though, since the centre is in deep hilly region.
My experience in the meditation course was fine. The teacher’s discourse every evening was very helpful. I think it’s a once in a lifetime must experience for everyone.

Interesting meditation center with a lot of monkeys and smelly dhamma hall because rainy season ️️️

The Dharamshala vipassana centre is a small centre nestled among pine trees. The location is beautiful. There is a small path to walk around the centre during the course. It can accommodate about 35-40 men and women each. Beware of the monkeys though.

It's a wonderful place for meditation, everyone should go there atleast once. It's 100% safe n everything is very good.

Must go place whosoever see this my Comment. Pure democratic meditation practice methodologies. Free of cost.everything.only you need to do is Meditation.democratic method.

Wonderful food is served here, be aware of that and don't eat that much, because then you will have problems with focusing on meditation.

The place could be little bit more secluded, but if I compare the mess in McLeod Ganj and this place, it super quiet, you hear the honk only once in a while.

Most of the rooms are pretty basic and are not really for a single person. They looks more like a dorms with a walls like in open space offices. Anyway the more you can challenge yourself and improve your daily practice.

Thank all the people who took care of me here during my 10 days Vipassana retreat. I really appreciate that and you made everything so easy for us. Good job.

P. S. I took the course in June and not many foreigners were here - in total only six. It's not that important but I've heard somewhere that 70 % of people are foreigners.now they are not.

This is a meditation center 2km from McLeod Ganj in Dharamsala. Very quiet and intense, v the place is beautiful for a retreat though definitely a bit colder than the surrounding areas because of dense tree cover. The center teachers Goenka Ji's Buddhist technique of meditation called Vipassana, which is claimed to be the original and only surviving tradition that he learnt from Siya ji U Ba Kinh in Burma. It is an intense program for ten days as well as eight days, the latter for old meditators. The courses are offered free of cost and one may give Dana or offer services in return. An experience worth a lifetime, i can easily say.

It's peaceful place with amazing climate with pure air and oxygen surrounded with mountains and cold place

About vipassna I have no words. But this review is not about Vipassana meditation but the facilities available at Mcleodganj meditation centre. No doubt this centre is located in the area which is most beautiful and in the lap of nature but meditation is not all about that. In meditation we have to close our eyes and concentrate. Overall facilities available at this centre is good but but there are dormitories which have common bathrooms, not attached bathrooms and sometime bathrooms are located outside the dormitories so it is difficult in the extreme weather specially in the cold to go outside and take a bath. In this centre there is no Pagoda cell. And the most disturbing factor for me was the monkeys which make so much noise that it was difficult for anyone to concentrate at least for the beginner.