History of Christian Ashrams
The word Ashram comes from the ancient Indian religio – cultural background. But to the principle of Ashram there are no territorial boundaries. In the history of human search for God in different parts of the world in many cultures, the Ashram concept has emerged. In India from the time of Vedandhas (1500 – 700 B.C) the concept of Ashram has started. As the reformers of the Indian religions started to live in forests, banks of the rivers and Islands in search of solitude to become spiritual human being by protesting the meaningless rituals and superstitions of the temple worship, the Ashram movement has started. They were not organized movements like today or places of worship in search of reality. They were the places where the spiritual Gurus have selected to sit in silence and meditate upon. In the sixth century before Christ, both Buddha and Mahaveer also observed the Ashram life style in India. They followed sadanas, asanas, pranayama, dharana and dyana. The Ashram is to avoid attempts for the mundane life and attempting serious and deep spiritual activities. In Sanskrit language to give a deeper meaning the prefix ‘ash’ or ‘aa’ is given to a word. Thus, the concept of Ashram gives more thrust for the observances of spiritual voyage. In the Indian system, the life span of a man is divided into four ashramas – stages namely, Brahmacharyashramam, Grihathashramam, Vanaprasthashramam and Sanyasashramam. In each of these stages the Ashram concept is very vivid.
During the Old Testament times of the Bible also there was a kind of ashram life. Elijah and Elisha who belonged to the group of former prophets of the 9th century B.C are included in this group. They were called seers. This word is equivalent to Irishi or Maharshi in Sanskrit language. Their life style and practices were unique. It is recorded in the Bible that through them many supernatural miracles and mysteries had been revealed. The Ashram of Elijah was situated at the Mount Carmel. They both were mystic yogis. Biblical scholars opine that Elijah was an ascetic – a Maharshi.
Christian monasteries were started during the fourth century A.D at Sinai in Egypt. During the seventh and eighth centuries a powerful monastic orders started in the western countries. Among these the Benedictine Monasticism is considered to be most important. During the 11th and 12th centuries Zeto has influenced the reformation and modernization of the ashram life in the church. St. Bernard, Ealred of Revo, William of Santheary and Guaric of Ignia fall under the second generation gurus. Following this the Sistetian tradition of monasteries spread throughout the world. Robert de Nobili (1577 to 1656) a Jesuit priest from Italy started Ashramam model ministry at Madurai in South India during 1610. But at that point the church had a suspicious eye on the activities of Nobili. Brahmabandhava Upadyaya (1861– 1907) who was called Sri. Bhavani Charan Banerji was a colleague of Swami Vivekananda, a contemporary of Rabindranath Tagore, a freedom fighter, a Christian Theologian and a mystic tried to write and spread the ashram systems in Bengali. But the then church did not support his ideas.
History of Protestant Ashrams
After the protestant reformation (1517) Ashrams were started in the beginning of the 20th century in India. Sri. K.T. Paul the General Secretary of the National Missionary Society (N.M.S) has put forward the Ashram concept. Thus, in 1917 under the leadership of Rev. Narayan Vaman Thilak the first Ashram was started at Sathara in Maharashtra. This Ashram was named as Royal Court of God (Iswar Darbar). Following this, many Ashrams were started – Christhukula Ashram at Thirupathur, Tamil Nadu (1928), Kristhuprema Ashramam at Pune, Maharashtra (1928), Kristhudasa Ashramam at Palakkad, Kerala (1930), Christian Ashram, Sattal, Uttarkhand (1930), Christhava Ashram at Manganam, Kerala (1935) and Marthoma Ashram at Sihora, Madhyapradesh (1942).
But due to various reasons, the ministry of the Christian Ashrams slowly deteriorated. Many scientific researches and studies have been carried out to analyze the reasons for this failure. Visualizing that in the Indian missionary movement the Christian Ashrams have a major role to play, Rev. Dr. D.J. Ajith Kumar started Kristukripa Ashram at Kattakkada in 1993 with the motto of Giving Living Water in Indian cup’. This has become a milestone in the reformation of the Neo Christian Ashram Movement in India. Following this he has started Ashrams at Nagpur (2002) and Chidambaram (2009).
History of Kristukripa Ashram
The spiritual renewal meetings which started in a High School at Kattakkada in 1985 under the leadership of Rev. Dr. D.J. Ajith Kumar, later on has grown into Ashram movement in 1993. The late Dr. Boel William, the Head Master of P.R.William Higher Secondary School had initiated to start a prayer meeting under the leadership of Rev. Ajith Kumar at his school. As this meeting was a great blessing to many, ‘Kripashram’ have been commenced in the property that has been sold by Dr. Vincent William, son of Dr. Boel William’s eldest brother. Later on this Ashram has been named as Kristukripa Ashram (K.K Ashram).
Kattakkada
Kattakkada is a small town 18 km east of Thiruvananthapuram, the State capital of Kerala, the southern State of India popularly known as ‘God’s own country’. Kattakkada is the entrance gate to the Western Ghats and Agasthya Mountains. It is traditionally believed that the famous Maharshi Agasthyar hails from Kattakada. Therefore, these mountain range is named as Agasthayarkoodam. Agasthyar who lived in the 4th century B.C is known as the father of Ayurvedic medical science, Sidha Medical Science and Marma / Nadi Sasthra – science related to the nerves. Pathanjali the author of Yoga Sutra and Thirumoolar the author of Thirumandhiram were the disciples of Agasthyar. Thus, Kattakkada nourishes high spiritual and cultural sensitivity in its ancestry.
