Upon entering the Datta Retreat Center's serene grounds we first see flower gardens and evergreens along the drive. Other buildings are seen nestled in the forested land ahead.

Down a winding path through the trees is the newly constructed Guru Nilayam, which serves as a home for Sri Swamiji and staff during his visits to the Center. This long-time dream is the first permanent accommodation for our beloved Sadguru. The small wooden cottage also provides a year round home for the Center’s manager and DRC office. Next to the Nilayam is a rock pond and waterfall, lovingly built by devotees, with various flower gardens and native plants placed to enhance the beauty of the land.

The Prayer Hall catches your eye as you round the bend. As with all the structures built at the Center, it is a rustic wooden building, cozy and inviting in appearance. This hall serves for performances, group meetings, hatha yoga classes and similar events, and also houses the bookstall. It is uniquely designed with a large sliding door, turning it into a stage for Sri Swamiji’s music performances during his visits to the Center.
A wood stove keeps everyone warm in the cooler seasons. The upstairs houses one large room serving as a rustic dormitory for guests. (Guests are asked to bring their own bedding. Bathrooms are located in a separate building near the Prayer Hall. Both buildings are wheel chair accessible.) Deep in the woods are some primitive campsites for the hardy.

The heart of the Center is the Universal Datta Sanctuary, an exquisite six-sided cedar and glass temple that is available for meditation and prayer in all seasons. Construction began on this first building during Sri Swamiji’s two week stay in 1988.

Images of Dattatreya, the spiritual trinity, and Anagha the mother goddess, were consecrated on the main rock around which the Sanctuary is now built. Sri Swamiji named each of the rocks after one of the 3 aspects of the trinity. The rock named for Brahma (the creator) remains outside the sanctuary in its natural condition. The Vishnu rock (the sustainer) was carved and painted with a huge “yantra” symbolizing the trinity, and one face of that rock peeks in through a wall of the sanctuary. Shiva (the destroyer of negativity) rock is located in the center of the Sanctuary.

Icons representing world’s various religions are situated at altars within the Sanctuary for personal worship. The Sanctuary is always open and provides a space for devotional singing and worship services at scheduled times. Those who come to sit quietly here experience an inner peace that allows them to listen to their heart and renew or deepen their awareness of God.
The powerful spiritual vibration of the rocks, the serenity and the sounds of nature combine to help one rejuvenate and regain harmony. Many visitors have been healed of physical and psychological problems as well.

With 19 acres of forested land, the Center provides serenity and reveres the spiritual quality of nature. Many forms of wildlife make their homes here - one can often witness a herd of deer grazing close by.
It is truly a place to come and forget the daily responsibilities and pressures, and renew one’s awareness of the presence of God.