Dharmagiri is 50 acres nestled in Bamboo or Mvoleni, mountain in the Southern Drakensberg range. Mvoleni in Zulu means ‘Place of Rain' and indeed the mountain attracts unusual and dramatic weather patterns.  On the back of the mountain, hidden from sight, is a cave with San paintings, one of which (unfortunately removed to Pietermaritzburg musem), depicts a shaman wrestling a rain beast. The belief was that the ‘rain beast' responsible for weather lived within the mountain. To this day Mvoleni is known within the local Zulu community as a place to gather to pray for rain. When Kittisaro and Thanissara first arrived the land had been abandoned for many years and was overgrown and lacked care. Before opening the hermitage many hours were spent taking out invasive gums and pines and encouraging indigenous species. In 2000 a substantial donation made it possible to build a hermitage wing kitchen, dinning area and a large room for meditation and library.