The Advaita is the only system which gives unto man complete possession of himself, takes off all dependence and its associated superstitions, thus making us brave to suffer, brave to do, and in the long run attain to Absolute Freedom. To give this one truth a freer and fuller scope in elevating the lives of individuals and leavening the mass of mankind, we start this Advaita Ashrama on the Himalayan heights…

—Swami Vivekananda

Situated in one of the most picturesque spots of the Himalayas at a height of 6500 ft., the Advaita Ashrama was started by Swami Vivekananda in 1899 to be a suitable centre for practising and disseminating the Highest Truth in life. Apart from a monastery, it runs also a hospital called Mayavati Charitable Hospital which serves free of charge nearly 1400 villages in this remote and backward region of the Himalayas. The helplessness of the people here would touch any heart if only it were known. The hospital depends upon public charity for its maintenance.

This Ashrama has a publication department at 5 Dehi Entally Road, Calcutta 700 014 which is one of the premier publication centres of the Ramakrishna Order. It publishes Ramakrishna-Vivekananda and Vedanta literature (Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, etc.) in English, Hindi and in Sanskrit-English. It also brings out Prabuddha Bharata, a monthly journal, whose aim is to demonstrate the harmony of the world's religious and cultural ideals on the basis of Vedantic universalism. Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, also conducts the following activities:
A Library-cum-Reading Room consisting of about 20000 books makes available general as well as text-books to the students;
An Auditorium where weekly religious discourses are given on Sunday evenings;
Distribution of cereals, clothes, text-books and pecuniary help to the needy.