The most talked-about Siddha-ashram in the 20th century is ‘Gyan-Ganj’, which is the subject matter of a book bearing the same name written by Dr Gopinath Kaviraj. This Siddha-ashram is said to exist in Tibet, in the Himalayas, and is presided over by Maharishi Mahatapa, whose age estimate hovers around 1,400 years. Traditionally it is believed that the monastery located further beyond the Manasarovar Lake region in the Himalayas in Tibet, on the ancient Northern Trade Route (Uttara Path) is very old and was known as ‘Indra-Bhavan’ earlier. Later, a little more than 700 years ago, it was renovated and revamped by Swami Jnanananda Paramhansa, a disciple of Mahatapa

After about ten days of their arrival at Jnanganj, Vishuddhanandaji was taken to the presence of his guru, the great sage Mahatapa at a place called Raj Rajeshwari Mutt. The body of Maharishi Mahatapa was heavy set, his breasts were so loosened as to hang close to his navel and his eye-lids had to be raised with hands for him to see a person.

Yet he was agile and was able to move and travel as he wished. Normally he stayed at one of the caves in what was known as the Raj-Rajeshwari Mutt. There were no buildings or hermitages there, but only some caves. The people who lived thereabouts did not have any use of such facilities. The Maharishi spent most of his time at this place. He visited the Jnanganj ashram only once in a while. Sometimes he went to visit ‘Manohar Teertha’, the abode of his Guru-preceptor.

It was during Vishuddhanandaji’s stay at Jnanganj, that the 13th birth century of Maharishi Mahatapa was celebrated at the ashram. The Maharishi also had a brother of the same age. However, much-much older is the Guru-Mata (preceptor) of the Maharishi who is known at Jnanganj by the name ‘Kshepa-Mata’. She is considered to be some four to five hundred years older than Maharishi.

From the description given by Vishuddhanandaji to his disciples, “There is a large land opening in the middle of the ice-capped mountains. It is interspersed with several waterfalls and swiftly flowing river-streams. In the centre of the opening, there is a large monastery enclosing an area of between seven to eight square miles.

There are high walls on all four sides of the monastery which are surrounded by a ditch filled with water. There were several bow-shaped bridges across the ditch for coming in and going out of the inmates. The monastery had several buildings, arranged according to disciplines taught and the different levels of education imparted to the scholars. The facilities and the faculty at the ashram, for teaching and training in ‘yoga’ and the ‘sciences’ stream, were extra-ordinary.

Nobody can enter Jnanganj without the knowledge and permission of the Paramhansas in-charge. The outsiders are permitted to enter, but normally no outsider is allowed to spend the night there. However, the inmates live in a state of perpetual joy. There is a full moon every night to illuminate the place. This, according to Vishuddhanandaji has been achieved through the focusing of the rays of light through a lens.

Swami Bhriguram Paramhansa was the chief faculty for the Yoga stream and effectively was also the principal administrator at the ashram. Besides imparting ‘yoga’ education to its scholars, the ashram also had a ‘Sciences’ Department, which was independent and had a separate Paramahansa as its head, who was known as Swami Shyamananda.

Among the people who stayed at the ‘ashram’, were scholars committed to celibate ways of life—both boys and girls. All of them received education and training in yoga and natural sciences. Out of them, some deserving scholars were also accepted for education in the higher ‘sciences’ streams.

The teachers at the ‘ashram’ included Paramhansas (Siddhas) and there was a good number of sages (more than a hundred) at this place, whose physical ages ranged from 200 years to over a thousand (towards the end of the 19th century). The Siddhas did not generally take any food, but some of the other teachers did partake of some food—though only very small quantities of it.

Several women Siddhas also stayed at the ‘ashram’. They were called the ‘Bhairavis. A majority of Bhairavies and Siddhas (or Bhairavas) at Jnanganj shared the middle age group from the Siddha standards; their ages were anywhere between 400 to 900 years. The most powerful Siddha amongst the disciples of sage Mahatapa is Bhrigu Ram Paramhansa, whose age estimate at the time of the first visit of Vishuddhanandaji was over 500 years.

Despite her age, ‘Kshepa Mata’ is reported to have the appearance of an ‘ever-young’ Bhairavi. She has such long and dense hair on her head, black in color that she can cover the whole of her body with her hairs itself, and no clothing is required by her at her abode.

It would be too much to expect that two exalted Siddha-Bhairavis a thousand and eight hundred years old and both exuding the appearance of a person in her twenties would be blessing the same region in the Himalayas with their presence at the same time. The cousin of Mahavatar Babaji is only referred to by the different Kriya-Yoga families as his sister who is of the same age as him and who looks as young as him. Also, she had taken a different route than Babaji to the meeting called at her behest in which Babaji and Lahiri Mahasaya were invited and that was witnessed by Ramgopal.

She had glimpsed the plan of Babaji to shed his form and plunge into the Infinite Current. In the presence of his disciples, she asked him, why he wanted to leave his body. She knew what he meant when he said, “What is the difference if I wear a visible or an invisible wave on the ocean of my Spirit?” She could, therefore, suggest, “Deathless guru if it makes no difference, then please do not ever relinquish your form.” She was an equal and independent cousin, though concerned, and not a subordinate.

(The above is an extract from the concluding chapters in all our books available in India, under the heading “THE SIDDHA ASHRAMS IN THE HIMALAYAS”)