Dhamma Ālaya

Dhamma Ālaya, meaning 'Abode of Dhamma', is the Deccan Vipassana Research Centre at Alate, near Hatkanangale in Kolhapur district. It is set on 22 acres of State Park Zone land in hilly country, 5 km from Hatkanangale bus station and 6.5 km from Hatkanangale railway station, where trains from Mumbai and Pune stop. The centre's directions are to reach Hatkanangale, on NH 166, by train or state bus and take an auto-rickshaw to Alate; by car, leave the highway at Ramling Phata, go up to the Kunthugiri Jain temple and turn left there. There is parking at the centre. VRI gives 2001 as the year it was set up and dhamma.org as the year of its first course; the centre's own site says it was established in 2000. It has a fan-shaped Dhamma hall for 250 students and a pagoda with 153 cells. The men's side has 18 single and 36 double rooms and the women's side 12 single and 26 double rooms, each side with a small hall and teachers' rooms, and there are separate dining halls. Ten-day courses usually take 100 to 150 students. The schedule runs from one-day Anapana courses for children aged 9 to 16 and teenagers' courses (15 to 19) to 45-day courses. The first 60-day course ended in October 2025, and a separate long-course area for 50 students is being developed (as of 2026).

How to apply

Apply online through the centre's page on dhamma.org (in Nepal, start from np.dhamma.org). New students must first complete a 10-day course, and there is no charge.

What is taught here

Donation-funded 10-day courses taught with S. N. Goenka's recorded instructions, in the line of Sayagyi U Ba Khin, at centres in Nepal and worldwide. Read about Goenka (U Ba Khin).