Remembrance स्मरण
Singing and sitting together, week after week. The practice is simple and it is meant to be repeated.
श्री अद्वैत राघव श्रीनाथाय नमः
जानकीशरणम् मंगलाचरण
नमः परमहंसास्वादितचरणकमलचिन्मकरन्दाय।
भक्तजनमानसनिवासाय श्रीरामचन्द्राय॥
A living community
A place to return to.
जहाँ मन ठहर जाता है।
A community given wholly to Shri Janki Ji - which is what the name Jankisharnam says. We are here to carry the nectar of bhakti, and the teaching that comes out of her own character, so that a person feels the connection with Siyaju.
Who we are
Not an institution - a gathering. जानकीशरणम्
Jankisharnam means taking refuge in Shri Janki Ji, and that is the whole of what this community is for: to spread the nectar of bhakti of Shri Sitaram Ji, and the teaching that her character gives, until society feels that connection for itself.
In practice that is people who keep showing up - to sing, to read together, to cook for a few hundred. There is no membership and no requirement. What holds it together is rhythm rather than organisation, and there is always room for one more. If you are looking for somewhere to begin, begin by coming.
Study स्वाध्याय
Reading the texts slowly and in company, with room for the questions people actually have.
Service सेवा
Cooking, teaching, carrying, cleaning. Whatever the day in front of us asks for.
Core teachings
What this lineage actually taught शिक्षाएँ
These are the teachings of Jagadguru Shri Ramanandacharya, the acharya whose line Jankisharnam stands in. Each one is set down as Jankisharnam received it: a plain statement, and the couplet it is remembered by. The chain of teachers it reached us through is set out on the guru parampara page.
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राम नाम सर्वोपरि
The name of Shri Ram is supreme.
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The soul has no caste, and spiritual merit lies in love and surrender.
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God resides in every being - service to others is service to Him.
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Guru and shishya are bound by love, not hierarchy.
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Ram Naam above all else सर्वोपरि राम नाम
The name of Shri Ram is the plainest form the Divine takes, and the one nobody can be kept away from. It asks for no Sanskrit, no priest and no permission - only the mouth that says it.
राम नाम सर्वोपरि, तजि सब आश्रय करिए
Take refuge in the name of Ram above all else. -
Devotion before ritual भक्ति ही सार है
What makes devotion real is not the correctness of the rite, and never the caste of the person performing it. Someone who chants the name has already arrived where the ritual was only pointing.
जाति-पाँति पूछे नहीं कोई, हरि को भजे सो हरि का होई
No one asks after caste or lineage - one who chants the name of Hari belongs to Him. -
One Ram in every being सबमें एक ही राम
All souls stand equal before the Divine. Shri Ramanandacharya taught in the common tongue, in the open, to whoever came - and the people who came are the argument.
कोउ हरिजन, कोउ तुरक कहावे, सब में एक राम बसि जावे
Some call themselves Hindus, others Muslims; Ram resides in all of them. -
The Guru is the doorway गुरु ही द्वार हैं
The Guru does not hand knowledge across. The Guru lights the lamp by which a seeker sees for himself. Without that light, what is learnt stays information.
गुरु बिनु होइ न ज्ञान
Without the Guru, there is no true knowledge. -
Bound by love, not rank नाता प्रेम का, ऊँच-नीच का नहीं
Guru and shishya are held together by love, not by hierarchy. The soul carries no caste, and spiritual worth is measured in love and surrender. Since the Divine lives in every being, service to a person is not a preparation for worship - it is the worship.
And one more, on its own
जाके प्रिय न राम वैदेही, सो नर तजिए कोटि बैरी सम जेही
His disciples
The teaching went out through them
Shri Ramanandacharya’s teaching shaped the lives of some of India’s greatest saints. Look at what they did for a living and the teaching explains itself - a weaver, a leather-worker, a barber, a farmer and a king, sitting together at a time when that was not done. They carried his message of unity, devotion and spiritual liberation into every corner of the subcontinent, and changed society from inside it.
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Kabir कबीर
A weaver of Kashi, whose couplets are still recited across traditions that agree on little else.
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Ravidas रविदास
A leather-worker of Kashi, and one of the great poets of the Bhakti movement.
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Pipa पीपा
Remembered by the tradition as a king who left his throne for the path of bhakti.
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Sena सेन
A barber by trade, and a saint-poet of the same movement.
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Dhanna Bhagat धन्ना भगत
A farmer, remembered for a devotion that needed no learning to justify it.
The tradition names others - list to be confirmed - the fuller list of disciples not yet provided
Why we set this down
This is set down so the teachings, the lineage and the living tradition Jankisharnam received are within reach of anyone who looks for them. Whether you have kept this practice for years, come to study it, or simply arrived at it - read, sit with it, and take what is useful.
What's coming
Upcoming gatherings
Most of what happens here repeats. Come once, and you will know when the next one is.
Monthly Annadaan photograph
Monthly Annadaan
मासिक अन्नदान
Cooking and serving a shared meal. Volunteers are welcome from the morning preparation onwards.
- When
- 29 September 2026 · 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
- Where
- Hanuman Mandir, Jabalpur
Jankisarnam Ram Nam Sankirtan
जानकीशरणम राम नाम संकीर्तन
🌸 संकीर्तन शास्त्र चर्चा सत्र 🌸 🙏 इस बार बताया जाएगा - “विजय मंत्र के महत्व की व्याख्या” 🙏 आइए, श्रीराम नाम के संकीर्तन की दिव्य शक्ति, उसके आध्यात्मिक महत्व और जीवन में उसके अद्भुत प्रभाव को समझें। इस विशेष संकीर्तन शास्त्र चर्चा सत्र में राम नाम के श्रवण, कीर्तन और स्मरण से मन एवं हृदय को मिलने वाली शांति और आनंद पर चर्चा की जाएगी। 🗓️ 12 सितम्बर 2026 (शनिवार) 🕔 समय: 4:00 PM – 7:30 PM 📍 स्थान: श्री प्राचीन हनुमान मंदिर अधारताल, जबलपुर “हरिनाम में ही आनंद है, कीर्तन से हृदय निर्मल होता है।” 🙏 श्रवण • कीर्तन • चिंतन • सेवा 🙏
- When
- 3 October 2026
- Where
- Shree Prachin Hanuman Mandir Adhartal, Jabalpur, Jabalpur
Weekly Satsang
साप्ताहिक सत्संग
An afternoon of collective singing, silence and reading. Open to everyone; no registration, no prior study required.
- When
- 3 October 2026 · From 5:00 PM
- Where
- Shree Hanuman Mandir, Agha Chowk, Jabalpur
Weekend of Silence
मौन साधना
Two days held mostly in silence, with guided sitting, simple meals and rest. Limited to a small group.
- When
- 10 – 11 October 2026 · Residential
- Where
- Venue to be announced
Hands preparing the shared meal. Documentary, close, unposed.
A small detail from the same morning: a pot, a stack of plates, a pair of hands.
Seva
Practice that leaves the room. सेवा ही साधना है
Sitting is half of it. The other half is what happens on the days between - the meals, the classes, the small unnoticed help.
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The shared meal
Cooking and serving together, so that no one who comes to the courtyard leaves hungry.
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Teaching and tuition
Evening classes for children from the neighbourhood, run by volunteers from the community.
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Care in difficulty
Quiet, practical help for families going through illness, loss or hardship.
Adhikaram
What we know, given away अधिकारम्
Members who work in a profession go into colleges and speak to students entering that same field - and carry the practice with them while they do.
An engineer talks to engineering students about the work they are about to walk into - honestly, including the parts nobody warns them about. Then about how to hold a career without disappearing into it.
An Adhikaram session with students. Portrait orientation.
In their words
Why people keep coming back
I came for one evening because a neighbour asked me to. I have not really stopped coming since.
What surprised me was how ordinary it felt. Nobody asked me anything. There was simply a place to sit.
My children learned the shlokas here before they learned them at home. That is not a small thing.
मेरे बच्चों ने यहाँ आकर वह सीखा जो मैं उन्हें घर पर नहीं सिखा पाया।
मैं यहाँ सिर्फ़ जानकारी लेने नहीं आया - मैं इस समुदाय का हिस्सा बनना चाहता हूँ।
If that sentence is true for you, there is nothing to sign up for. Come to a Saturday afternoon, or write to us first.
Support
The work is funded entirely by the people who take part in it.
There is no fee to attend anything, and there never will be. What is given is given freely, and it goes back into the same rooms it came from.
Where it goes
- The kitchen, and the monthly meal it cooks
- Keeping the hall, courtyard and instruments in repair
- Recording and freely publishing every talk
- Books and materials for the children’s circle
Transparency
- Registered as
- To be confirmed - registered trust name not yet provided
- Registration no.
- To be confirmed - registration number not yet provided
- Tax exemption
- To be confirmed - 80G certificate details not yet provided
Accounts are shared with the community each year. Nothing above is published until it has been verified against the trust's own records.
Visit
Come and sit with us आइए, कभी आ जाइए
Nothing is required in advance. If it helps to know what to expect, write to us and someone will answer.
- Address
- 176 Vaikunth Dham Shreeramnagar Gullaua Chowk, Garha
- Open
- WHOLE DAY
- Contact
- 8319277091 Jankisharnam@gmail.com
The entrance, so a first-time visitor recognises it when they arrive.