How we source

Five labels

Every statement in the Atlas carries one of these. They answer a simple question: on what basis do we say this?

Scripture

What a scripture itself says about this place, with the text and section named. Scriptures often exist in several recensions, so we name the edition or translation we read.

Lineage text

What a book by or about a master says happened here, such as Autobiography of a Yogi, Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master, or Sadhguru's books and talks. We paraphrase in our own words, name the chapter in the edition we actually hold, and quote a few words at most.

Pilgrim tradition

What the people who live, serve and pray at a place widely hold to be true, where we have no written source. We say who holds it. It deserves respect, and it is not the same as a text.

Folklore

Stories that are told and retold but that we cannot trace to a text or to a living tradition at the place. We include them only where leaving them out would confuse a reader who has already heard them, and we say plainly what they are.

Practical

How to get there and what you will find today. Every practical note carries the date we last checked it and how: an official source, a first-hand visit, or the operator. Things change, so read the date.

On a place's page, what the texts say always comes first, what tradition holds comes second, and what you will find today comes third. We keep them in separate sections so a story never borrows the authority of a book, and a book never has to carry a story it does not tell.

How a place reaches the map

1. 1

   We read the book we cite

   Every chapter number comes from a copy we hold and have read, named in the list of editions below. We do not cite from memory, from summaries, or from another website's citation.

2. 2

   Anything unchecked stays marked

   A first draft marks every uncertain field as needing verification: a chapter we have not confirmed, a pin we have not stood at, an opening time we have not checked. Nothing is filled in by guesswork.

3. 3

   A person checks every claim

   Each place has a checklist of every claim on its page. One of us works through it against the book and, for practical details, against an official source or a visit.

4. 4

   We sign it off, and date it

   A place is published only when the checklist is complete and Sadhana Saarthi has signed it off with the date. You will see both on its Source Card.

5. 5

   The site refuses anything incomplete

   Our build checks every published entry automatically. An unchecked field, an unlabelled claim, a long quotation or an undated practical note stops the site from being published at all until it is fixed.

Quotation and respect for authors

We describe what a book says in our own words. We quote at most once from any book on a page, and never more than a few words, always with the author, title and chapter. The books are worth reading whole, and we would rather send you to them than stand in for them.

Independence

Sadhana Saarthi is independent. We cite the published works of many teachers and traditions, and none of their organisations has reviewed, approved or taken part in the Atlas. Citing a book tells you where a story comes from. It does not mean its author or publisher knows us, and we do not use their names, logos or photographs to suggest otherwise.

Pins, dates and practices

Exact and approximate pins

A solid pin marks a spot we have confirmed. A dashed ring marks an approximate one, and the Source Card says why: a cave that is not on any map, or a text that names a hillside rather than a doorway.

India's boundaries

Our map is Google Maps, loaded for India, so India's boundaries are the ones the Government of India shows. We do not use maps that draw India's borders any other way, and if the map cannot load we show none rather than a wrong one. Every place also carries a link to directions.

Dated practical notes

Roads close, timings change and permits come and go. Every practical note shows the date we last checked it and how, and we prefer temple trusts, government sources and our own visits over travel blogs, which tend to copy one another's errors.

Practices

Each place has a short practice: sitting, silence, breath awareness, repetition of a name. They are simple on purpose and safe for most people. Where a lineage has its own initiated practices, we say to practise them only as your teacher taught you, and we never teach them from a web page.