On a hilltop at the outskirts of Kanhangad, North Kerala, India, Swami Ramdas, endearingly called Beloved Papa, founded Anandashram in 1931. In the inaugural address, Papa categorically made it clear: "The ideal which the Ashram holds before it is Universal Love and Service based upon a vision of divinity (Godliness) in all beings and creatures of the world. Here every man, woman or child, to whatever denomination, creed or caste the person may belong, shall have free access. This is a place where every effort will be made to cultivate the spirit of mutual love and service, so that what is realised within its walls may prove as an example for the right conduct of human life in outside world.”
