OVERVIEW
Govardhan Ecovillage is situated on 50 acres of pristine farmland in the Wada district of Maharashtra. Although its rustic charm and sylvan ambience belie the fact, it is only a two-and-a-half hour drive north of Mumbai, South Asia’s economic powerhouse. The addition to the community of the Lady Northcote Hindu Orphanage in 2002 brought the total number of residents to 100 (130 including our bovine friends).
MILESTONES
Initiated in 2002, the project has since accomplished the following goals:
- Education
- Establishment of primary school and orphanage
- 3-month intensive courses offered on “Simple Living, High Thinking”
- Agriculture
- Self-sufficiency achieved in rice, vegetable, and dairy production
- Cottage Industry
- ox-driven oil and flour mill
- Renewable Energy
- all cooking and lighting energy needs met with cow dung fuel
- Animal Husbandry
- zero machinery: exclusive reliance on draft oxen for tilling
- goshala (cow shelter) home to 30 cows and bulls and growing
Sustainability
Govardhan Farm aims to demonstrate the principles of self-sufficiency and localized economy to the world. In consultation with organic farming experts, all inputs and outputs are natural, and only indigenous varieties of grain are grown. Instead of chemical fertilizers, we employ cow dung and natural compost. Cow urine and neem oil serve as organic pesticides and bulls are favoured over machinery for ploughing.
Objectives
- To give individuals a first-hand experience of our utter dependence on Mother Nature’s gifts
- To help cultivate an attitude of reverence and gratitude towards Mother Nature and all her children
- To engender a spirit of peaceful cooperation among living entities for the supreme good of all
QUOTES
“Our true nature only can be realized when our desires and actions are in harmony with our nature.”
