Manavodaya

Manavodaya Manavodaya is a centre of learning in values-based development. It is recognized as a center of excel For more information: http://www.manavodaya.org

It is recognised as a centre of excellence in promoting people's participation through a process of self-help and empowerment. It works directly among oppressed groups at village level to facilitate process of change based on local participation, self management and control. The experience of work at grassroots during the past 20 years of existence has led to evolution and establishment of methods

and practices in social transformation that can be adopted by oppressed/marginalised/excluded groups in most cultural contexts. Manavodaya has also been a pioneer in the promotion of self help groups in Uttar Pradesh, North India. It is known for the first credit linkage of a self help group with a rural bank in North India after months of struggle in 1993. Several thousand practitioners/professionals in NGOs, banks, government agencies and cooperatives from different parts of India have participated in capacity building programmes at Manavodaya, focussing on methods of promoting self help, empowerment and values-based development. An international course titled People Based Development was started in 1998. The course has been regularly organised since then and has attracted participants from Africa, Europe and the US.

SATURDAY IS YOGA DAYFor most children, Yoga is fun. They learn the asanas well as a fun exercise. But they know that Yog...
14/02/2026

SATURDAY IS YOGA DAY

For most children, Yoga is fun. They learn the asanas well as a fun exercise. But they know that Yoga is also DISCIPLINE

12/02/2026

Sports Day at Manavodaya School

It is fun all the way, both for the children and the spectators.

28/01/2026

REPUBLIC DAY CELEBRATIONS AT MANAVODAYA

The children of Manavodaya school put up a spirited display of dance, drama, acrobatics, yoga and speech on the 77th Republic Day under the guidance of the principal and support of the teachers. The parents also showed a lot of interest in attending the program and motivating their children to do their best.
Besides sharing of stories of valor by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and the Jallianwala Bagh scenes enacted by students, the story of Manavodaya that helped bring independence in the lives of many persons was also shared. A great learning for everyone especially the young minds. We thank everyone for their support and participation.

27/01/2026

Saraswati Puja at Manavodaya School

All the students placed their books before the Goddess and prayed for more knowledge. There were some spontaneous dance performances and sharing of thoughts.

Introducing Christmas to ChildrenWe have no Christian children in our school. They had never heard about Christianity an...
24/12/2025

Introducing Christmas to Children

We have no Christian children in our school. They had never heard about Christianity and its various festivals. In order to enhance their general knowledge, we helped the students to decorate a Christmas tree. We had one tree in the campus, so we chopped of its top to get a real tree for decoration. The students decorated it themselves and had a great time singing and dancing. The Santa even distributed gifts to the children as you can see in the video.

SHGs spread to Kenya with beautiful outcomesManavodaya trained a Kenyan youth Raphael and rural women leaders in the con...
17/12/2025

SHGs spread to Kenya with beautiful outcomes

Manavodaya trained a Kenyan youth Raphael and rural women leaders in the concept and practice of self help groups. This was an intensive online training covering several days and included methods, assignments, motivational inputs.
We have several reports to share about the new business started by the different groups. This week the groups were recognised by the local administration and provided revolving fund to the tune of KES 650000 to each group. According to Raphael

Indeed today was one the biggest days in my life. Witnessesing 28 self help groups get empowered that was awesome to me and the women at large.

MANAVODAYA SCHOOL Case Study of a studentWe are all feeling proud to watch the performance of the students of Manavodaya...
15/11/2025

MANAVODAYA SCHOOL
Case Study of a student

We are all feeling proud to watch the performance of the students of Manavodaya School, a school with a beautiful campus where students are guided, trained, disciplined and taught by Dr. Amla and team in all aspects of education. We charge a very low fees that enables ordinary income families to send their children. Interestingly when the children join they are extremely poor in reading, writing, subject knowledge, dressing sense, discipline or communication in Hindi or English. But soon develop confidence in areas of their choice, many of them excelling in different subjects, games, crafts, yoga and willingness to help others especially parents at home.
A case in point is this girl from a nearby village who could not differentiate between subject books when she joined. Watch the confidence with which she now delivers a short speech in English and Hindi. Like many other students she also excels in yoga, dance, academics, crafts and leadership qualities. We will be happy to share the cases of other students in future posts.

04/10/2025

MANAVODAYA PRAYER
This is a glimpse of the familiar prayer sung at every program of Manavodaya inside the Nardananda Hall that can be recognized by the thousands of participants who have been through the experience.

DEVELOPMENT FROM WITHINThe New Age Method of Holistic TransformationThe Manavodaya story of new age transformation metho...
19/09/2025

DEVELOPMENT FROM WITHIN
The New Age Method of Holistic Transformation

The Manavodaya story of new age transformation methods is well documented in the book DEVELOPMENT FROM WITHIN by Varun Vidyarthi and Prof. Patricia Wilson. Most of the important conclusions in the book are still not the subject of dialogue, debate or action in the development sector as the book focuses on both the inner and outer transformation.
The essential process element described in the book, the key to the spread of self help and empowerment methods is the identification, training and handholding of village level facilitators. This is a simple low cost mechanism of working towards transformation of living conditions anywhere in the world.
We have restarted dialogue and action on this front and would like to invite people from all sectors especially those in the corporate sector and the education sector to join hands and make this dream a reality.

LAUNCH OF THE BOOK 100 GREAT IITIANS Commander VK Jaitly and I were felicitated at the launch of this wonderful book by ...
17/08/2025

LAUNCH OF THE BOOK 100 GREAT IITIANS

Commander VK Jaitly and I were felicitated at the launch of this wonderful book by the Additional Chief Secretary UP Government, Mr. L. Venkateshwarlu at the auditorium of the State Institute of Rural Development, Lucknow.

International Yoga Day at Manavodaya The concept and practice of Yoga was discussed with practical examples and live dem...
21/06/2025

International Yoga Day at Manavodaya

The concept and practice of Yoga was discussed with practical examples and live demonstrations by Manavodaya students.

A Nepalese Delegation of Cooperative Leaders visits ManavodayaThe key subjects discussed included the functioning of sel...
01/03/2025

A Nepalese Delegation of Cooperative Leaders visits Manavodaya

The key subjects discussed included the functioning of self help groups, the process of women’s empowerment and the steps towards Conscious Living. Dr. Amla Vidyarthi welcomed the delegation and shared practical experience of work with self help groups, especially the initial struggle of linkage of groups to banks.

The delegation presented a momento of Nepal’s famous temple to Dr Vidyarthi.Mr. Vidyarthi introduced the concept of Conscious Living and its impact on the mindsets and life perspective of youth.

Address

IIM Road DIGURIA
Lucknow
226020

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm

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Our Story

Manavodaya is a centre of learning in values-based development. It is recognised as a centre of excellence in promoting people's participation through a process of self-help and empowerment. It works directly among oppressed groups at village level to facilitate process of change based on local participation, self management and control. The experience of work at grassroots during the past 30 years has shown clearly that building of self awareness is critical for facilitation of social transformation. This helps in development of self help systems and practices that can be adopted by oppressed / marginalized /excluded groups in most cultural contexts. Manavodaya has also been a pioneer in the promotion of self help groups in Uttar Pradesh, North India. It is known for the first credit linkage of a self help group with a rural bank in North India after months of struggle in 1993. Several thousand practitioners/professionals in NGOs, banks, government agencies and cooperatives from different parts of India have participated in capacity building programmes at Manavodaya focussing on self awareness and self help methods for empowerment and good governance at local level.

An international course titled People Based Development was started in 1998. The course has been regularly organised since then and has attracted participants from Africa, Europe and the US.

A Post Graduate Diploma course in Rural Development Management is being successfully conducted for last three years enabling the youth to develop critical skills in facilitation methods to meet the growing need for middle managememt personnel in development institutions. For more information: http://www.manavodaya.org