It was in the year 1921 when Vinoba Bhave came to Wardha to establish a Satyagraha Ashram. He wanted to start it on the same lines as Mahatma Gandhi in Ahmedabad. Jamnalal Bajaj, a renowned industrialist and freedom fighter, had constructed a bungalow at the bank of Dham river at Paunar (9 km East of Wardha and 6 km away from Sevagram) for occasional rest during the summer vacation. It was known as Lal Bungalow. Taking into consideration Vinobaji's poor health, Gandhiji advised him to go to a hill station. Vinoba preferred Paunar and informed Gandhi that he found his hill station. 
Meanwhile, he was transferred to Lal Bungalow where Vinobaji had established his Paunar Ashram in 1938. During the years 1921 to 1938, Vinobaji was following Satyagrahas and religious duties. It is this time when he led Zhanda (Flag) Satyagraha in Nagpur and started the social works of Gram Seva Mandal. He even started Kanya Ashram and provided the facilities of education for the girls and women. He even did Satyagraha at Vaikom in Kerala to get an entry of Dalits in the temples. He did the seminal work of translating the Bhagavad Gita verses into Marathi. He even delivered talks on the Gita (Gita Pravachan) to the people and the jail inmates during his imprisonment in Dhule Jail.
As soon as Gandhiji started the individual Satyagraha in 1940, Vinobaji was the first to be selected as the first Individual Satyagrahi. Vinobaji initiated the Bhoodan (land gift) Movement in 1951 and related activities from this Ashram.
Pavanar (Pravarpur) was the capital of the Vakataka dynasty (4th-5th century CE) during the reign of King Pravarsena. During excavation for the construction of the Ashram, many sculptures were found which are restored and displayed at the ashram.
Brahma Vidya Mandir is within the premises of Paunar Ashram. This was established by Vinoba Bhave in 1959. It is now being managed by women from different states of India for common spiritual attainment. It is quite noteworthy that the women live a highly contemplative life with their active contribution to the noble cause of society. They are active in rishi kheti (i.e. earning a livelihood from farming with simple, inexpensive tools, without the help of bullocks that are within the reach of the poor), spinning, manual labour and other works associated with the management of the Ashram.

The region is mostly dry throughout the year, and Summers are extreme. The temperatures in summers are around  30-40 degrees Celsius.
Winters here came to be as low as 10 degrees Celsius.
The average annual rainfall in this region is around 1064.1 mm.