ashraya
Ashraya means shelter in sanskrit. Hence, the Neem tree has been chosen as the logo. It is a drought resistant tree with devine properties. It is also known as the Heal All tree. It is also an excellent organic pesticide and its oil is also used in making natural soap.

Ashraya has only three cottages, all named after trees, Neem, Peepul (Sacred Fig - Gautama Buddha meditated under the tree and got enlightened) and the Banyan Tree (Wishing Tree). All of them provide great shelter.

Ashraya has been a dream project of Depi. It was conceived as agreen home in this spectacular surrounding, over looking the Ganga.
Each room is 1000 sq ft and has bath as big as most bedrooms in the city. It has been self architected , designed and executed. It is made up of natural stones virtually without any cement and steel. It has been constructed by local crafts men under Depi's supervision. We have attempted reviving the lost skill of dry stone construction. Even in this remote area, local villagers have started making their homes using fabricated brics and reinforced cement and steel. The style of construction adopted for ashraya is very slow and time consuming, hence far more expensive than the modern style. The thick walls and the high ceilings keep the house cool in the summer and pleasant in the winter. As a result of which we have not put any fans in the room. We are of the opinion that even fans cut out the external sounds of the birds chirping. The roof has a small glass section to view stars while lying down on the bed.

We have planted lots of fruit trees, however they will take a few years to start bearing fruit. We have started a scheme called adopt a tree, where a guest can plant a tree and we take care of it. If it is a fruit tree, we would send our guest a jam bottle from the tree.

To complete the journey of taking you back in time seeing the world differently, moving at a very slow pace, we have introduced village walks and village home stays. These are old village homes that have been renovated by us to make your stay comfortable. For lunch and dinner, we offer you the local village cuisine. It is so quiet that you can hear your own heart beat. You get a feel of the day-to-day life of a village in the Himalayas.