Open Day at Palazzo Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

We hosted an Open Day for all, inviting people from in and around Val Borbera to take part in a guided tour of the castle.

For the first time ever we opened the Castle to the general public. An enormous effort went into making everything even more beautiful than usual. We were only expecting about thirty people, and that is more or less how many came in the morning. They were all so impressed by the changes brought about by the loving work of countless yogis over the years.

Many of the older people from the valley had visited the Castle as children and remembered well how dilapidated it had been. They all followed the guided tours with great interest and respect, and at the end they were invited into the meditation room for a meditative experience.

A really emotional moment came with the arrival of the previous owner, who had sold the Castle to Shri Mataji. He and his family were overjoyed to see how much loving care had been put into restoring their old home and the gardens.

But the real surprise came in the afternoon; word had quickly spread along the valley about this extraordinary event and more and more people arrived. The Castle was nearly at full capacity as groups of visitors were guided around from lobby to library and beyond.

By the time the last visitors left we realised that at the end of this blessed day nearly 200 locals had taken the opportunity to join us on this unprecedented day.