Neem Karoli Baba
Also known as Maharaj-ji, Baba Lakshman Das, Neeb Karori Baba
Neem Karoli Baba was an Indian master of the last century, called Maharaj-ji by his devotees, who held that loving God and serving people are the same work. The two ashrams built in his lifetime are Kainchi Dham near Nainital and the ashram at Vrindavan, where his samadhi shrine is.
- Born Lakshman Narayan Sharma around 1900 at Akbarpur in the Firozabad district of Uttar Pradesh
- Called Neem Karoli after Neem Karoli village in Farrukhabad district, where he spent his early years
- Left home as a wandering sadhu in about 1911; later lived with his family at his father's request
- Kainchi Dham was founded in 1964, and he stayed there through the last decade of his life
- His devotees included Ram Dass, whose 1971 book Be Here Now carried his message west; Steve Jobs travelled to India in 1974 to meet him
- Died on 11 September 1973 at Vrindavan; his last words were Jaya Jagadish Hare
Life and teaching
Neem Karoli Baba was born Lakshman Narayan Sharma around 1900 at Akbarpur in the Firozabad district of Uttar Pradesh, in a Brahmin family. Married by his parents at eleven, he soon left home and wandered northern India as a sadhu, known then as Baba Lakshman Das. He came back at his father's request and lived with his wife and children for years before setting out again.
His name comes from Neem Karoli village in the Farrukhabad district, where he spent much of his early time. People began to gather around him, and he became a leading devotee of Hanuman: shrines of Hanuman were raised wherever he stayed.
Kainchi Dham and Vrindavan
Two main ashrams were built in his lifetime. Kainchi Dham, in the hills near Bhowali in the Nainital district, was founded in 1964 on land donated by a local resident, with the Hanuman idol installed on 15 June that year; he stayed there through the last decade of his life. The Vrindavan ashram became the other centre of his work, and in time more than a hundred temples were built in his name.
He died a little after one in the morning on 11 September 1973 in a hospital at Vrindavan, after being taken ill on a night train from Agra. His last words, repeated several times, were Jaya Jagadish Hare.
The teaching
His teaching is summed up in the words his followers still repeat - love everyone, serve everyone, remember God. He held that praising God and feeding people are the same work, and he was known for small, everyday answers to the troubles his visitors brought him.
Love everyone, serve everyone, remember God.
Neem Karoli Baba - the saying his devotees and the Love Serve Remember Foundation live by
The visitors, and the legacy
The American teacher Ram Dass, whose 1971 book Be Here Now introduced a generation to him, was among his devotees, and so were the musicians who first carried his kirtan abroad. Steve Jobs travelled to India in 1974 to meet him, arriving after Baba had died. Every 15 June the Kainchi Dham fair marks the founding of the ashram, and visitors now come in millions each year.
Places connected with Neem Karoli Baba
- Kainchi Dham His ashram on the Nainital-Almora road, founded in 1964
Looking for a room? Places to stay in the Nainital hills on Vedic Safar, or the spot pages above for what is near each place.
Questions about Neem Karoli Baba
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Sources
Compiled from the sources above - dates and places as they are recorded there. Something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.