About
Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam
Prasanthi Nilayam — the Abode of Supreme Peace — is the ashram Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba built near the village of Puttaparthi, in Andhra Pradesh. It is both a place and a teaching.
Sri Sathya Sai Media Centre · public domain
"There is only one religion — the religion of Love. There is only one language — the language of the Heart."
Prasanthi Nilayam is built around a simple idea: that love and service are the same thing. Bhagawan spent decades demonstrating it — in the Mandir, in the hospitals, in the university classrooms, in the streets during nagarsankirtan at dawn.
The ashram is open to everyone, of every faith and background. You do not need to be a devotee to visit — only to follow the code of conduct that keeps this a place of peace for all who come.
The abode of supreme peace
What is Prasanthi Nilayam
Set among a chain of rounded boulders and hills, with the Chitravathi river winding to its east, Prasanthi Nilayam is the principal ashram Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba established in 1948 on the outskirts of his birthplace, Puttaparthi.
Around the central Mandir and Sai Kulwant Hall grew a full township: residential blocks for visiting devotees, a free university, two world-class hospitals, a planetarium, museums and canteens. The ashram is open every day. Every day follows the same rhythm — Suprabhatam before dawn, nagarsankirtan through the lanes, bhajans in the morning and evening, arati at the Mandir. That constancy is part of what people come for.
Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
His life, his message
Born Ratnakaram Sathyanarayana Raju on 23 November 1926 in Puttaparthi, Bhagawan declared his mission at fourteen and spent the next seven decades living it. His teaching asks for no conversion and no renunciation — only the practice of five human values in daily life, in whatever faith or culture you already belong to.
He built hospitals where the poorest receive world-class surgery free of charge, a university where every student is educated at no cost, and water projects serving millions across Andhra Pradesh. He attained Mahasamadhi on 24 April 2011, aged 84. His Samadhi in Sai Kulwant Hall is the heart of the ashram today.
"My life is my message."
The teaching
Five human values
Bhagawan's teaching is not a religion. It is a practice any person can follow in any faith, in any culture, every day.
Sathya
Truth
Speak truth. Think truth. Live truth.
Dharma
Right Conduct
Act with integrity in every moment.
Shanti
Peace
Stillness of mind. Equanimity of heart.
Prema
Love
Universal, unconditional, without limit.
Ahimsa
Non-violence
Harm no living being in thought, word or deed.
Service in action
Seva Dal — the volunteer corps
Seva Dal (Service Corps) are the volunteer teams who manage darshan queues, serve in the canteens, staff counters and carry out hundreds of small acts that keep the ashram running. They come from across India and the world, serving for weeks or months at a time, without payment.
Bhagawan considered seva — selfless service — to be a form of worship. "Hands that serve are holier than lips that pray" is one of his most repeated teachings. The Seva Dal model extends beyond the ashram through Sai Seva organisations operating in 114 countries.
Find your nearest Sai centre
Sri Sathya Sai International Organisation
114 countries, one mission
The Sri Sathya Sai International Organisation (SSSO), established during Bhagawan's lifetime, coordinates Sai service activities across 114 countries. There is no membership fee and no hierarchy of doctrine. Each centre runs educational, humanitarian and spiritual programmes in its own community, aligned with the five human values.
Service activities include free medical camps, community kitchens, school support, disaster relief and annual retreats. No conversion is sought — visitors to any centre are welcomed regardless of their faith.
sathyasai.org — SSSO worldwide
Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust
The trust that oversees the mission
The Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, headquartered in Prasanthi Nilayam, administers the ashram and all the major institutions Bhagawan established. It oversees the two Super Speciality Hospitals, the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, the General Hospitals, the Anantapur drinking water project, and dozens of schools across Andhra Pradesh.
The Trust operates without government subsidy for its core services. All hospital care is free. All university tuition is free. The Trust website carries audited reports, project updates and news from the institutions.
srisathyasai.org.in — Central TrustAround the ashram
Places worth visiting
Bhagawan built an entire township of service around the Mandir. Everything here is open to visiting devotees.
Chaitanya Jyoti Museum
9:30 AM – 12 PM · 3 – 5:30 PM · Closed Mon
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
Visitor hours: 10 – 11:30 AM
Hill View Stadium
Open during scheduled events
Space Theatre & Planetarium
Daily show 10:30 AM · Closed Wed
World-class. Completely free.
Hospital and university
Healthcare
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences
Opened in 1991. Cardiology, urology, ophthalmology and orthopaedic surgery — all free of charge. No patient has ever received a bill. Two campuses: Prasanthi Nilayam and Whitefield, Bengaluru.
Prasanthi Nilayam, Andhra Pradesh 515 134
Visitor hours: 12 Noon – 2 PM, Monday to Saturday
Education
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
Founded 1981. Degree, postgraduate and doctoral programmes — tuition, boarding, books and uniforms are all free. Two campuses: Prasanthi Nilayam and Whitefield. "End of education is character."
Vidyagiri Campus, Prasanthi Nilayam, Andhra Pradesh 515 134
Visitor hours: 10 AM – 11:30 AM
॥ Your Heart is my Home ॥
A township of service grew around the stillness — and it is all open to you.
The full sweep of the Super Speciality Hospital — domes and wings across the valley · J929, Wikimedia Commons · public domain