Sacred Atlas
Places the masters wrote about
Caves, ghats and homes described in Autobiography of a Yogi, Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master, Sadhguru's books and the scriptures. For each place we set out what the text says, what tradition holds, and what you will find there today, and we keep those three things apart.
Every claim carries a label and a chapter. Nothing appears here until one of us has checked it. How we source
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14 places
- Babaji's Cave, Drongiri
Pandukholi hill, near Kukkuchhina and Dunagiri, Dwarahat, Almora district, Uttarakhand
The hillside caves near Ranikhet where, in Autobiography of a Yogi, Lahiri Mahasaya meets Babaji in 1861 and is initiated into Kriya Yoga. In Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master, Sri M describes making his way to the cave of that meeting.
Autobiography of a Yogi · Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master: A Yogi's Autobiography · approximate pin
- Badrinath
Badrinath, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand
The Himalayan shrine of Vishnu. Sadhguru retells the story of how it was once Shiva and Parvati's home, and how they came to leave it for Kedar.
Himalayan Lust · approximate pin
- Chamundi Hill
Chamundi Hill, Mysuru, Karnataka
The hill above Mysuru where, at twenty-five, Sadhguru sat on a rock one afternoon and, as he tells it in Inner Engineering, lost all sense of where he ended and the world began.
Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy · approximate pin
- Dhyanalinga
Isha Yoga Center, foothills of the Velliangiri Mountains, near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
A meditation space at the foot of the Velliangiri Mountains, consecrated by Sadhguru in 1999, which he describes as a place to simply sit.
Adiyogi: The Source of Yoga · Death: An Inside Story · approximate pin
- Kainchi Dham
Kainchi, Nainital district, Uttarakhand
The Himalayan ashram of Neem Karoli Baba, with its Hanuman shrine. In Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master, Sri M's teacher sends him here, and the Baba calls him out of the crowd.
Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master: A Yogi's Autobiography · approximate pin
- Kanti Sarovar (Gandhi Sarovar)
Above Kedarnath, Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand
A high lake above Kedarnath where, in the lore Sadhguru retells, Adiyogi first taught yoga to the seven sages, and where he himself had an overwhelming experience of sound in 1994.
Adiyogi: The Source of Yoga · Himalayan Lust · Shiva: Ultimate Outlaw · not on the map
- Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Uttarkashi
Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand
The ancient Shiva temple of the "northern Kashi". Two teachers from different lineages write about it: Sri M meditated in its courtyard for months, and Sadhguru spoke of it on his Himalayan journey.
Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master: A Yogi's Autobiography · Himalayan Lust · approximate pin
- Kedarnath
Kedarnath, Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand
The Himalayan Shiva shrine Sadhguru says has been shaped by thousands of yogis and mystics who left their energies here instead of teaching.
Himalayan Lust · Shiva: Ultimate Outlaw · approximate pin
- Lahiri Mahasaya's Home
Garudeswar Mohulla, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
The family home in the lanes of old Varanasi where Lahiri Mahasaya lived as a householder, received disciples in a small front room, and left his body in 1895, as described in Autobiography of a Yogi.
Autobiography of a Yogi · not on the map
- Manikarnika Ghat
Manikarnika Ghat, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
The great cremation ghat of Kashi. Sadhguru describes it as the core of the city, and it is where, in Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master, Babaji meets the young Sri M one evening at sunset.
Shiva: Ultimate Outlaw · Death: An Inside Story · Kashi – A Tower of Light and Shiva’s Luminous City · Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master: A Yogi's Autobiography · approximate pin
- Mount Kailash
Ngari, Tibet
The mountain Sadhguru describes as a living library, where Adiyogi deposited all he knew, and which Hindu, Jain and Buddhist traditions each hold sacred.
Shiva: Ultimate Outlaw · Adiyogi: The Source of Yoga · approximate pin
- Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram
Chidambaram, Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu
The temple of Shiva as Nataraja, the dancer. Adiyogi: The Source of Yoga explains why the yogic tradition holds Chidambaram sacred.
Adiyogi: The Source of Yoga · approximate pin
- Trailanga Swami and the Ghats of Kashi
Ganga ghats, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
The ascetic Trailanga Swami, a friend of Lahiri Mahasaya, was a familiar sight on the ghats of Benares. Two lineage texts remember him as one of the great souls of Kashi.
Autobiography of a Yogi · Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master: A Yogi's Autobiography · not on the map
- Velliangiri Mountains
Western Ghats near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
A range Sadhguru calls the Kailash of the South, where he says Adiyogi sat after a great disappointment, and where his own guru chose to leave his body.
Adiyogi: The Source of Yoga · Shiva: Ultimate Outlaw · approximate pin
Longer reads
- Babaji's cave near Ranikhet: where Lahiri Mahasaya received Kriya YogaTwo books, written decades apart, describe the same hillside above Dwarahat. What each one says, and the official route to the hill today.
- Kainchi Dham in Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master: Sri M meets Neem Karoli BabaSent by his teacher from the caves of Kumaon, a young seeker finds a crowd, a Hanuman shrine, and a laughing saint who picks him out from the back row.
- Lahiri Mahasaya's house in Kashi: a householder's room at the centre of Kriya YogaThe great Kriya Yoga master never left home for a cave. He taught from a small front room in the lanes of Kashi. Here is what the book says about that house.
- Manikarnika Ghat: why the masters send seekers to the burning groundKashi is built around a cremation ground, and Manikarnika is at its centre. Two teachers from different lineages explain why a seeker might choose to sit there.
- Trailanga Swami and the ghats of Kashi: what two lineage books sayA silent ascetic on the steps of the Ganga, remembered by two different lineages. What the books actually say about him, and what is only said.