Govardhan Village

Govardhan Ecovillage is a wellness retreat at the foot of the Sahyadri mountains in Maharashtra, India, built around yoga, Ayurveda and organic farming. Located in the Sahyadri foothills near Mumbai, the 100-acre site combines a working organic farm, a cow shelter built to what it calls world-class welfare standards, and guest accommodation, with around 250 people living there permanently. A temple complex and a recreated 'Vrindavan Forest,' depicting scenes from Krishna's life through dioramas and forest groves, sit at the spiritual centre of the property. Visitors can stay overnight, take a yoga or Ayurveda session, or simply spend the day walking the grounds.

The Govardhan School of Sustainability runs study-abroad, internship and volunteering programmes for students interested in the practical side of the operation such as waste management, water conservation and green building. A daily kitchen on-site serves free vegetarian meals to anyone who turns up, part of a wider ISKCON food programme that has served more than four billion meals worldwide. The ecovillage's rural development arm also works with 78 tribal villages nearby, reaching over a million and a half people. Govardhan Ecovillage also runs its own plastic pyrolysis plant, converting up to 150kg of plastic waste a day into usable fuel, one of several sustainability projects that helped the community become one of the few tourism operations anywhere accredited by four separate UN bodies, and a winner of the UNWTO's Award for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism.