Uttaraloka is a hermitage and small retreat for male members of the Western Buddhist Order. I am the caretaker and I organize two three-month retreats each year – one in the Spring and one in the Autumn.
In 1999 Vajrabandhu and I were walking in the mountains and saw a simple little house that we both agreed would make an excellent retreat house. Ten years later, in 2009, we were thinking about getting a place to run long retreats for a small community and Vajrabandhu, out walking one day, noticed that the little house we’d see ten years previously was for sale. To cut a short story even shorter – one week later we owned the property; and Bodhidaka renovated the little house – the Cassita – and with help from Achaladeva built a couple of huts for visitors.
A couple of years later the piece of land above the Cassita was also offered to us – this took a little longer to negotiate and fund but eventually we acquired it and Bodhidaka and others set about rebuilding what we now call the Main House for use as a communal kitchen, sitting room shrine room and what is now my room.
Uttaraloka consists of 4 hectares of South facing terraced hillside with magnificent views – my visitors can stay in one of two rooms in the Cassita or in one of the two wooden huts. In the main house there is a kitchen, a sitting room, and a stunning shrine room.
Other sets of photos – click on the image
