THE PLACE
Here you'll find information about the location, different seasons in Shivanandi, the rooms, the natural training pool, the food grown and prepared, the spring water, and also a little bit about us.
From Delhi, take a train or a vehicle to Haridwar or an airplane to Dehradun. From Haridwar or Dehradun carry on by road to Rishikesh, Devprayag and Rudraprayag. Carry on the Badrinath Highway for another 10 kilometers until you reach Shivanandi Village.
A five minute path will lead you down to SHIVANANDI RIVER LODGE.
LOCATION
and how to reach us
SHIVANANDI RIVER LODGE is located in the Indian
Himalayas, on the banks of the Alaknanda River
on the fields of Shivanandi Village. It's 5 hours north
east of Rishikesh, on the Badrinath Highway.
The magnificent Tiger Lilly is in full bloom in July and August
Spring (Mar-Apr) - Glorious weather. The weather starts off chilly at the beginning of March and ends up hot by the end of April. Flowers and butterflies in abundance. Wheat harvesting time. Cool evenings, warm days. The river is low and crystal blue.
Summer (May-Jun) - Hot and dry. Hot hot in the day time but cools down at night. You will probably find yourself immersed in the pool or the river most of the time. Rice planting season (Rupai).
Monsoon (Jul-Sep) - The mountains are covered in endless shades of green. Young rice sways on the terraces. The river rises more than 20 meters. The air is fresh. The soil is singing. Rain for days, or evening showers or sometimes nothing. Sometimes warm, sometimes cool. Wonderful weather. Water is everywhere!
Fall (Oct-Nov) - Flowers, birds, bees, animals, all celebrating the lush vegetation left over by the monsoon. The weather is great, the river drops down again and the vegetable garden is heavy with the fruit of the monsoon's blessings.
Winter (Dec-Jan) - Cold. Temperatures reach zero degrees at night. No snow but little sunshine. The river levels are perfect for kayakers who are used to the cold.
The simple yet magical wild Himalayan Tulip adornes the wheat fields in May
SEASONS
Spring Summer Monsoon Fall & Winter
We have eight fabulous double rooms. They all have attached bathrooms with solar heated water. All the rooms overlook the Alaknanda river and are constructed of rock plastered with mud using local knowledge. The traditional construction assures that the rooms stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. The three rooms upstairs (#4,#5 ) have wooden floors and private balconies to laze on. The five rooms downstairs have mud floors and some have a private garden. All the furniture in the rooms was locally constructed by our in-house carpenters out of a variety of high quality wood such as devdar, teak, sal and shisham.
We have a large hall for socializing and dining, a small library and a kitchen.
For more info about the Yoga hall press here:
ROOMS
6 rooms built with love
more pictures of the rooms coming up soon!
The beautiful pool overlooks the river and uses no chlorine or other chemicals. Instead, aquatic plants filter and oxygenate the pool. So no burning eyes & no need to worry about the kayak kit getting bleached.
NATURAL SWIM POND
Biologically treated water
Home made Muesli
FOOD & WATER
Vegetarian, Organic, Local,
Spring water purified by nature
We provide locally available organic food, the prime flavor being Indian food supplemented with fruit, salads & milk products. We have our own free range chickens for eggs. The milk comes from village cows that eat freshly picked grass. We do not consume or serve non vegaterian food.
Any special dietary requirements are happily catered to from kosher to vegan or Gujarathi.
Shivnandi has been generously blessed with lots of spring water. We tap a spring on our land for all our needs. The water in the bathroom taps is pure mineral water, sweet and free as nature intended it to be.
Kids playing in the
wetlands adjoining
SHIVANANDI RIVER LODGE
In Shivanandi, we are blessed with an abundance of water. There is so much water here that it comes out of the ground in the form of wetlands which are perfect for planting rice. Fireflies, dragonflies, tiny fish, butterflies and birds, as well as aquatic plants enjoy the pure water created by the wetlands. The water seeps through the soil and trickles down to the river through the porous rock and sand.
In addition to the natural wetlands, we have a Constructed Wetland for treating our swimming pool water, a separate one for treating our Grey water and in the future we will build one for treating our sewage as well.
WETLANDS
Natural & Constructed Wetlands
To read more about our extended family, please press here:
Our family consists of SHALABH GAHLAUT (born and raised in India),
ALICE MILLER (born in South Africa and raised in Israel) and our daughters MAYA (born in 2007) and SHANTI (born in 2011).
We built SHIVANANDI RIVER LODGE together wishing it to be a place of relaxation, of deep connection with nature, of direct contact with the mountains and rivers and as a home for our family in the Himalayas away from cities and pollution. After searching for land for many years, while kayaking down the Alaknanda River, Shalabh slept on the beach at Shivanandi and realized that he had found the place to build our dream.
Construction of SHIVANANDI RIVER LODGE took three years (April 2009 – April 2012). We started off in a tent on a rice field, lived without electricity or running water for a year, and are now proud to say that we have become a part of Shivanandi village. Our guests bring untold blessings to this beautiful village.
Shalabh is a renowned kayaker and river guide with more than 20 years of experience in the field. He is also a qualified mountain guide and is at home in the outdoors as much as any city dweller is in a mall.
Alice is an Aeronautical Engineer and loves sewing, knitting and baking.
Alice, Shalabh, Maya and Shanti’s home in Israel is in a small eco-friendly community located in Kibutz Hokuk overlooking the Sea of Galilee.