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Please note: The International Headquarters will close in mid-August 2026 for a major retrofit and rehabilitation project. Learn more
Paramahansa Yogananda established the international headquarters, the Mother Center, of Self-Realization Fellowship in 1925. It is located on the crest of Mt. Washington, five miles from downtown Los Angeles. Here he lived and worked for more than twenty-five years, and from this center his lectures, writings, and recorded talks are published and made available worldwide.
Also situated here are ashrams (monastic communities) for Self-Realization Fellowship monastics.
Paramahansa Yogananda’s living quarters at the Mother Center have been preserved as a shrine, and there are exhibits of some of his personal effects in the library and reception hall. The chapel where he conducted services throughout the years is open daily for prayer and meditation. A lovely outdoor “temple of leaves,” where he often gave classes, also invites quiet reflection and meditation, and visitors are welcome to enjoy the Mother Center gardens.
To learn more about plans for the much-needed seismic life-safety retrofit project, for the International Headquarters of SRF, please visit the IHQ Retrofit & Rehabilitation Project webpage.
We are about to implement a major retrofit and rehabilitation project at the SRF International Headquarters to include essential seismic and fire-safety upgrades to the International Headquarters Building, which was constructed in 1909, as well as necessary improvements to the surrounding site grounds.
In anticipation of the final approvals from the City of Los Angeles for the SRF International Headquarters Retrofit & Rehabilitation Project, closures will take place on the following dates in preparation for construction:
The construction is anticipated to last approximately three years.
And please join us as well on Saturday, September 12, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, for “A Vision for the Future of the SRF Mother Center,” a special livestream with SRF/YSS President Brother Chidananda and SRF Vice President Brother Vishwananda. During the livestream, they will unveil the vision and inspiration behind the SRF International Headquarters Retrofit & Rehabilitation Project plans — and share a “preview” of the completed project. (A recording of the livestream will be available for viewing after the event.)
We will provide further updates as they become available. For more information, please visit the International Headquarters Retrofit & Rehabilitation Project page on our website.
3880 San Rafael Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90065
(323) 225-2471
The SRF Mother Center commemorated two historic milestones in 2025 — the 100th anniversary of Paramahansa Yogananda establishing the Mother Center as the International Headquarters of Self-Realization Fellowship, and the 75th anniversary of the first SRF World Convocation, personally conducted by the Guru on these sacred grounds.
View a special talk that SRF/YSS President Brother Chidananda gave on Saturday, October 25, 2025, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Paramahansa Yogananda’s founding of the SRF International Headquarters atop Mount Washington in Los Angeles in 1925.
We invite you to view a Centennial Commemoration exhibit in the main hall of the International Headquarters Building.
View glimpses of the SRF World Convocation pilgrimage tours to the Mother Center that took place in June 2025.
Monastic hosts welcomed visitors from around the world sharing inspiring stories from the Guru’s life. Pilgrims enjoyed meditating in the sacred surroundings, devotional chanting with the nuns, visiting Paramahansaji’s shrine rooms, and a traditional Indian meal.
View a recording of Brother Chidananda, president and spiritual head of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, conducting an Easter Sunrise service on April 20, 2025. The occasion — livestreamed worldwide — marked 100 years since Paramahansa Yogananda led the first such service at the International Headquarters in April 1925.
The 2024 annual issue of the Self-Realization magazine contains articles dedicated to the Mother Center Centennial.
Available on the SRF bookstore and in temple bookrooms.
The dreams I have had, and have worked for, God has fulfilled — and much more than I had planned. It is because Mt. Washington Center has always striven to be the instrument of God that those plans have been realized.
Paramahansa Yogananda founded the International Headquarters of Self-Realization Fellowship in October of 1925. How did a young swami from India acquire this 12-acre property near the heart of Los Angeles? Read the inspiring story of this spiritual sanctuary where Paramahansaji lived, taught, and communed with the Divine for more than 25 years.
Read excerpts from Paramahansaji’s words at the dedication of the SRF International Headquarters in 1925.
Sri Daya Mata, beloved third president of SRF/YSS, reminisces about the early history of the SRF International Headquarters in Los Angeles. She says, “The story of Gurudeva Paramahansa Yogananda’s worldwide mission — and certainly of his establishing our headquarters on Mount Washington — is one of loving sacrifice and undeterred faith in God.”
