MUMBAI:The Ashram Hari Mandir Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya, just a longish ride away from Delhi, is a rather unusual hotspot, but that’s what it has become in the past few days.

The quiet retreat, located in Pataudi village, is where Julia Roberts and the cast and crew of the Hollywood movie Eat, Pray, Love are going to shoot for 20 days, beginning today.

DT visited the ashram over the weekend, when preparations for the shooting were almost complete. There were security guards at every gate, and the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, opposite the main karyalaya of the ashram, had a new look. It’s here that the scenes for the movie will be shot.

Swami Charan Sharma, principal of the school in the ashram, says, “A huge, temporary wooden entrance has been set up just outside the real one. The Laxmi Narayan Mandir is the main shooting area. A wooden extension has been erected at the Krishna Niwas on the first floor, which is painted in pink. A small, white mandir in marble finish has been erected at the Atithi Niwas, and a few scenes will be shot there as well. One scene will be shot at the Yagyashala, which will feature five Indian sadhus who will perform the yagya. Swami Dharam Dev and I may be playing two of those roles.”

Swami Dharam Dev, who heads the ashram, adds, “Ashram mein abhi toh bahut halchal ho rahi hai. Bachchon ki chhutti ho gayi hai to itna problem nahin hai. It’s a great thing, you know – Julia will chant 182 shlokas in Sankrit for the shoot at the ashram. She’s already got them written in English and I hear she’s been rehearsing them.”

The security cover is well nigh impregnable. One of the Indians among the production team told DT, “We haven’t hired any bouncers we don’t trust them. The Haryana Police have taken care of the security arrangements. Art director Charley Beal was in India with his team to set up the sets three weeks ago. Those have just been cleaned up.”