Legacy of Service

“Whomever you serve, please serve with the dignity and respect their soul deserves. It is an honor to be in their service, and a privilege to be part of this healing process. It is a great honor and privilege to be part of sangha (spiritually-grounded community) and to be instrumental in expanding sangha, and supporting its health and well-being. It is a great honor and pleasure to be in the service of the Creator’s creation.”

Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD

Chairman and Spiritual Head, Himalayan Institute

Origins: Himalayan Development Efforts

Since the early 1970s, the Institute has supported a wide range of developmental efforts throughout the Himalayan region known as Garhwal, where the Institute’s founder, Sri Swami Rama, was raised and received his spiritual training. These efforts included support for libraries, health clinics, colleges and schools. These efforts culminated in the founding of the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust in the late 1980s, which has since grown into a premier medical institution, medical college, and multi-disciplinary university in the state of Uttarakhand.

Children’s Education

For about 15 years since the early 2000s, the Institute supported education for thousands of children in impoverished rural villages in the districts of Pratapgarh and Allahabad in North India. Efforts included scholarships, building new classrooms, and providing books and teaching supplies to schools. Prior to these efforts, many of these schools held classes outdoors or in dilapidated huts, and consequently classes were often cancelled in the rainy season or summer months.

Preservation of Ancient Wisdom

In the Jaunpur district of North India, the Institute supported a traditional Sanskrit school known as pathashala. For half a century, this school had been an active institution for the indigenous arts and sciences of ancient India. It is one of the rare schools where Sanskrit is the medium for teaching and speaking. With the Institute’s support, the Sanskrit school built new classrooms and established a library.

Disaster Relief

The Institute has supported disaster relief efforts in the Himalayas during a few extraordinary situations. In 2013, torrential monsoon rains and a massive cloudburst in the Himalayan region led to catastrophic flooding and landslides in the Uttarakhand region, near the famous shrine of Kedarnath. The Institute supported thousands in need through medical relief and reconstruction efforts.Similar efforts were undertaken after the massive earthquake that struck the Gorkha region of Nepal in 2015.

In 2020, the Institute launched emergency relief efforts during the first wave of COVID-19 which had a devastating impact on India. The Institute provided crucial food and medical relief efforts in the villages near our Prayagraj and Khajuraho campuses.

Sustainable Agriculture

In partnership with the Tibetan Exile Government we introduced sustainable agriculture and green energy production to Tibetan refugee settlements in South India. After a successful three-year establishment period from 2009 to 2012, these efforts have taken root and are now fully managed by the local Tibetan settlements.

We established nurseries and demonstration farms in three settlements, serving thousands of Tibetan refugees through education and outreach. The training centers focused on sustainable farming methods, crop diversification techniques and introduction of medicinal plants, and the Pongamia pinnata, a drought-resistant and soil-regenerating tree which is a source of biofuel and biofertilizer.