By sudden quirk of destiny, Mantalai, a little known scenic village habitat in the lap of densely forested mountains of Sudhmahadev had come into prominence and glory when Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari took it in his charge in 1971 for multi-utility development as a remarkable destination for spiritual attainments. But its glory was only ephemeral.
Ever since Dhirendra Brahmchari, the Yogic mentor of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was killed in air crash in June 1994 property worth hundreds of crore in Mantalai Aparna Asharam has been gathering dust. In the last two decades the State Government has also failed to promote the tourist resort on the tourism map of the State.
Barring lip service the State Government failed to tap the tourism potential of the area and is still in the State of infancy with regard to developing/bringing the place on the tourism map of the State.
The immoveable and moveable property located inside the sprawling ashram built over 1002 kanals of land is almost lying in dilapidated condition.
Large fleet of jeeps, cars, tippers, trucks, tractors, two 70 KVA generator sets, aircraft, shuttering material worth lakhs of rupees, have been converted into rubble. Out of 26 rooms of the under construction five star hotel the automatic locks of one dozen rooms are broken and nothing is lying inside these rooms.
After his tragic death in a private plane crash on 9th June 1994 the yoga guru’s property was left untouched by the successive State Governments. After a long wait and settling litigations the Mantalai Ashram was taken over by the Patnitop Development Authority (PDA) in December 2009 after the State Government identified the place to develop a wellness centre to promote tourism in the region. The development of Aparna Asharam at Mantalai is being taken up on PPP mode as decided during the 16th meeting of Patnitop Development Authority.
A detailed project report is being prepared through Jones Lang Lasale, Property Consultants Indian Pvt. Ltd for the development of Mantalai and area around, which is under progress. The State Government has also spent roughly 14 lakh rupees on patch works of the road and renovation of the bathrooms inside the Ashram since December 2009.
In its issue of September 24 last Daily Excelsior reported that the Central Government had sanctioned an amount of Rs 99 crore to develop the picturesque hill resort of International Yoga Centre at the site in Mantalai and to improve the tourist infrastructural facilities for the tourist resorts of Patnitop and Sudhmahadev, under the development package of Prime Minister’s Plan. Out of Rs 99 crore sanctioned for the three tourist places, Rs 83.73 crores have alone been earmarked for the development of Mantalai as an International Yoga Centre , which will include Yoga Centre, Wellness and Ayurveda Complex, Tourist Facilitation Centre, Cafeteria, accommodation facilities, eco-parking and herbal garden, Meditation Enclave, Landscaping, Rainwater Harvesting Fountains, Children’s Activities zone, etc. For long after the tragic end of Swami Dhirendra ji, Mantalai has remained neglected although occasionally a few tourists do appear as they are deeply interested in the bewitching beauty and pristine nature of this spot. The beautiful buildings constructed decades ago, the rusting vehicles, the lush green grounds, the helipad etc and many other remnants of the years gone by tell a lot about what the spot could have become had not the icy hand of death removed Swami ji.
Development of Mantalai as per the draft plan will be a major achievement of promoting tourism in Jammu region. In particular the wide range of faculties that have been proposed are bound to make it a world famous yoga centre the like of which we will not find anywhere in the county. But everything depends how seriously and dedicatedly the State Tourism takes this job.
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