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SPACE
SOCIETY FOR PROMOTION OF ART CULTURE EDUCATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL EXCELLENCE
DHARMA NILAYAM
THE CONCEPT
Every human endeavor and struggle has as its goal the achievement of peace and happiness. Economic opulence, physical robustness, intellectual prowess, are definitely not the only marks of a person’s happiness and peace. Otherwise many people living in palaces and skyscrapers would not be yearning for solace and healing. The true panacea is in building institutions that inspire people to look within and discover the infinity of one’s true being – monuments that tell people that everyone has the innate power of compassion and potential for self realization. The need of the hour therefore is to create spaces that foster universal human values and stand tall as lighthouses that beam out hope and light to mankind. SAI Dharma Nilayam is one such spiritual lighthouse.
Our Strength
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Land measuring 19.15 acres has been bought at Majhitar, South Sikkim in the year 2002.
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Land measuring 5 acres bought in 2020 in village Perbing in East Sikkim in the vicinity of Gangtok.
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Land measuring 3 acres donated by Mrs. Sangeetha Thapa to the Trust.
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Thousands of people from Sikkim and beyond who are "Friends of Dharma Nilayam" and are willing to participate in this massive project making it a veritable 'people’s movement'
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Peace and Prosperity that are conducive for overall growth and development.
Dharma Nilayam at a Glance
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A centre for "Human Excellence" where one can imbibe the higher values and purpose of life.
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Conducive environment to imbibe the cardinal values of Truth, Righteousness, Peace, and Love.
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A Light House in the North Eastern Himalayas.
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A veritable Retreat that radiates Eternal Peace and the fundamental Truth of Being.
An artist's impression of Dharma Nilayam sketched by Pronoy Kishore Diwan
MONUMENTAL EDIFICES OF DHARMA NILAYAM
Abhyudaya - The Sanctum Sanctorum
Abhyudaya translates as sunrise, prosperity, good fortune, elevation and fulfilment. Like the sun which is the centre of the solar system, the heart of Dharma Nilayam is Abhyudaya, a veritable spiritual haven where people can attune themselves to the cosmic soul - the indweller. Unlike a conventional temple or Mandir, this edifice is more of a Centre for Self-Discovery, where sincere aspirants and students can strive to journey to the deeper and inner recesses of one's persona and unravel one's true identity. The theme of such spiritual endeavor is the most inevitable question that one needs to ask oneself "Who am I?". Abhyudaya will inspire such a rise in all of us.
Proposed design of Abhyudaya
Prashanti Vidya Mandir
Value-Oriented School of Excellence where Education is imparted in the idiom of Human Values. In the year 1984, Bhagawan instructed Mrs. Phigu Tshering Tenzin to start a Values School in Sikkim which would imbue Human Values in the students and promote their academic excellence. The school today is a Secondary School affiliated to CBSE. The School has over 650 students with 100 children residing in the hostel, and has maintained an impeccable and consistent academic progress record till date. The School follows a values-oriented pedagogy and incorporates values in all its curricular and co-curricular programs. In the context of this School, SAI stands for Standardization, Accreditation and Inspection. Its a school that seeks its own intrinsic accreditation by virtue of creditable holistic activities. SPACE has been managing and supporting this School since the year 1995.
Topomap of the School site at Parbing
Proposed design of the School's Foundation Block
SAI Institute of Music and Aesthetic Arts
Music is the audible expression of beauty and unsullied pristine joy. Aesthetics is concerned with one's capacity to create and appreciate beauty. Whoever creates and worships beauty alone can inherit heaven - not the beauty that is physical and ephemeral but the inner beauty that radiates from one's inner being. The external physical beauty is transient and a reflection of the everlasting beauty of the soul. This Institute will endeavour to teach music in this aesthetic perspective encompassing our traditional values since ancient times. In this context, SAI is Sing - Adore - Inspire. The Institute is being envisaged to provide knowledge, expertise and inspiration to generations of aspirants of music and art. This will be an Institute of its kind where all genres of music - Indian and western classical, rock, jazz, folk and contemporary will be taught. This unique Institute of Music will offer a special traditional course entitled PARAMPARA GHARANA which will be designed as per the ancient GURU-SHISHYA tradition.
SAI Sadhana Dhaam - Forest Hermitage for Aspirants of Love, Peace and Emancipation
SAI stands for Service Adoration and Illumination and also Spiritual Awareness of Individuals. The SAI Sadhana Dhaam is being designed as a haven for those who are pining to sequester themselves away from the madding crowd, to synchronize their lives with nature’s rhythm and melodious serenade. We share the world with people who are caught in a frenzy to 'win the race to the top'. Most of us are self-centered and individualistic due to lack of the right vision to see ourselves reflected in everyone. All the hustle and bustle around us are caused by the egocentric aspirations of people seeking fulfilment. SAI Sadhana Dhaam is deemed to be an ultimate refuge where one can learn to be One with the Inner Self. Meditational training packages and programs are readily available in the market today for a price and there are teachers and experts galore claiming to instruct the right way. The truth is that meditation cannot be taught - meditation is intrinsic in man and it happens when one starts seeking. SAI Sadhana Dhaam will offer the logistics for the aspirants in terms of a comfortable living space, wholesome pure vegetarian food, and natural setting to promote peace and joy of being by oneself.
SAI Karuna - Old Care Home
Old age physically cripples a person, hurts one's self dignity and makes one feel betrayed by time. All the same old age is as inevitable as time. Its a moment when the present spreads its wings eager to fly into the future and turn one's life into another landmark of mortal transience. Old age is indiscriminate - a state or circumstance that surpasses wealth, cast, creed, gender, race, religion, prowess, strength and the like. In the context of this project, SAI stands for Serve Adore and Inspire. SAI Karuna Niketan is designed as a unique destination for elderly people aspiring for love, comfort, care and recognition that they amply deserve in the evening of their life. Unlike a conventional old age home where old people dumped and disowned by their kindred are given shelter quite often under degrading conditions, SAI Karuna Niketan is envisaged to be:
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A place where elderly people will feel wanted and honoured
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Where their wisdom and skills garnered over a lifetime will be brought to use all over again
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A veritable destination for elderly people to put on their boots again and set off for undertaking selfless acts of their choice.
SAI Yoga Sansthaan
The centre will be one of its kind where people from all walks of life will be able to learn the theory and practice of yoga free of cost in an environment inspired by the wisdom of the ancients.
A School and Home for differently-abled children.
SAI Dhanvantari - Centre for Alternative Medicines
Resource and Research Centre in Ayurveda, homeopathy and other herbal healing remedies.
SAI Jyoti
SAI Kala Vaibhavam - Centre for Human Excellence
A mammoth Performing Centre to accommodate a large gathering of people where amenities such as boarding, food, technical and logistics support will be provided.
SAI GOKULAM
Animal Husbandry is an integral segment of Dharma Nilayam and fulfills a great tradition of the country since times immemorial. It is being envisaged to expand the GOKULAM into a full-fledged dairy farming enterprise.
The plan is to offer 1 to 3 BHK apartments to people interested in settling down amidst a thriving hub of developmental activities aimed towards human excellence. Considering the elevation and extent of the land available, around 50 to 60 residential apartments will be constructed. This concept offers a great opportunity to all like-minded people to live together in a well-knit community. It is here that they will find solace and fulfillment in participating in the multipronged altruistic programs of Dharma Nilayam. The funds that accrue out of this endeavour will be utilised for the project.
SAI Residency
DHARMA NILAYAM SALIENT FEATURES
The Human Development Aspect
This project is truly for the people, by the people and of the people - in short a project envisaged on democratic principles. The process involved in building this is as much the goal as the final completion of it. It involves the voluntary participation of people in terms of physical work in the truest spirit of altruism. Dawn and dusk hours will be spent in inspirational sharing and learning. Each group will be involved for a maximum period of 15 to 20 days that will provide ample mutual learning opportunities. The intense involvement with this project will positively impact lifestyles and attitudes of those involved transforming people. In this respect SAI connotes Social Transformation, Associational Transformation and Individual Transformation.
People's Movement
Most projects however immaculately designed or conceptualized basically veers round a group of beneficiaries or vested interests. The spiritual involvement of the masses are the barest minimal since those involved in the process do so for the monetary benefits alone. SAI Dharma Nilayam is a project that inspires the people to look beyond individual gains and interests. The intrinsically ingrained mutual sharing components will make this a people's movement across cast, class, creed, and color. The completion of each phase of the project till its final completion will only spell a milestone in its infinite journey.
Light House in the North Eastern Himalayas
Our societies have fallen prey to all kinds of abuses, felony, and misdeeds resulting in widespread misgivings. The rise of immorality has curtailed the pathways to immortality. Acts of cruelty and terrorism have reached unabated proportions. Religious institutions and monuments related to any creed or faith have little or no impact against the tyranny of greed and egotism. In a grim situation such as this, the world needs to develop institutions that propagate the caste of humanity, religion of love, language of the heart, and the Omnipresence of One God. SAI Dharma Nilayam is one such lighthouse that radiates the effulgence of this integrated awareness of the Self.
Social Mobilisation, Consolidation and Communal Harmony
SAI Dharma Nilayam anticipates a humongous amount of teamwork. The most succinct acronym of Team as inspired by this project is Together Ever in Action for Mobilization. Being a people-centric project aimed at people's welfare to be undertaken by the people, this project ensures people's participation and ownership. It promises to bring people from all walks of life together underneath one umbrella.
Monumental Asset
SAI Dharma Nilayam epitomizes another acronym - Stupendous Aesthetic Imposing. Its architectural grandeur will spell out these three epithets in ample measure. On completion of the project, we would have been instrumental in creating a monumental asset not only for the state or the region but for the entire nation. Its aura will radiate beyond borders and horizons attracting people from various quarters of the globe.
FINAL WORD
Dharma Nilayam was conceptually initiated way back in 2002 and it continues to live in the minds of its aspirants. 18 long years have not dampened our spirit which is testimony of its sacrosanct need as well as its purity of intent. It is a project driven by utter selflessness. This is designed not as a religious centre but as a monument of Dharma or Righteousness which is to be understood only as the Substratum of Existence or the very Nature of all things. Dharma Nilayam is prefixed by SAI who is the Avatar that manifested as a Universal Preceptor during our times. SAI is the ultimate inspiration of this project. Dharma Nilayam has already been shaping and moulding the character and thoughts of people closely associated with its making, transcending the concrete limits of just brick and mortar. Dharma Nilayam is meant to be our most precious bequest that we can gift the rising generations.