Shruti Foundation has completed 13 years of work dedicated to education

Shruti Foundation has completed 13 years of work dedicated to education, conservation, promotion of the traditional knowledge systems, heritage restoration, awareness and training in tangible and intangible heritage, education and skills empowerment of women, children and youth.

It has also been involved in educational research, publication, wellness and healthcare with traditional yogic and sonic sciences, transnational cultural events for advocacy and evolution of education culture, through conferences, events and workshops, both locally at the grassroots, and globally,dedication to using innovative models for proactively using the best of our heritage and cultural knowledge for the benefit and re-adaptive use by present and future generations.

Since 2013, Shruti foundation, through its Village Revival Initiative, has shifted a large part of its energies and resources into its projects in Ramgarh Shekhawati, particularly in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. It has been working individually and in collaboration with the Government and other institutions for the development of Shekhawati through revival and promotion of local arts, crafts, skilling and education of its women and youth, revival of indigenous knowledge systems, herbal remedies and other indigenous knowledge systems of the region, which are either fading away or dying.

EMPOWRMENT OF WOMEN AT GRASSROOTS: We have created a training and textiles development centre toskill and empower Widows and Single women earners at the grassroots at Shekhawati, with a view to economically empower them with employable skills and support there existing local skills, particularly in rug making from recycled cloth “Katran”, Ayurvedic and herbal products, traditional dry foods and Heritage crafts. We now have local women working with very basic looms but produced beautifully designed rugs, table mats, runners, bags, laptop covers and other products with woven durries (rugs)

TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE HERITAGE: The focus of Shruti Foundation is education and revival of Tangible and Intangible heritage. It has been working tirelessly towards restoring monuments and Havelies, Tree Planting, Heritage walks, advocacy conferences, building Shauchalayas for the economically weaker sections of the society and creating awareness about other health and hygiene challenges faced by them. Shruti Foundation is also closely working with the local government for the development of the infrastructure of the region.

EDUCATION AND SKILLING: It is particularly focused in socio-economically challenged which also encompasses children and women from Sikar, Churu and Jhunjhunu Districts. We have been organizing workshops with Women, Children, Youth and Artists residencies, competitions, cultural programs, craft projects and events to promote learning and awareness of local skills and heritage arts, sciences and traditional knowledge systems

VEDAARANYA HERITAGE AND HEALING FESTIVAL SINCE 2016 – In our endeavor to reintroduce the glory of Shekhawati to the world and advocate protection and restoration of heritage, we launched this annual festival in December 2016. The next edition of the festival will be from January17-19, 2020.

DEVELOPMENT OF MUSEUM: Shruti Foundation is working of conservation of works of Art, heritage documents, manuscripts, telegrams, letters, and other artefacts, costumes. The foundation has already professionally catalogued more than 1500 items and is working towards procuring funding to complete documents and create a museum, which will showcase the history, the journey and the great lifestyles, global influences and social order of the Rajasthani Seths and local populations of this region

THE VILLAGE REVIVAL INITITIATIVE

The Village Revival initiative of Shruti Foundation since 2013, has focused many onheritage restoration, women’s empowerment (particularly single women earners and widows), education and skills development workshops with students from Shekhawati (Sikar, Churu and Jhunjhunu districts, global awareness creation, tree planting, restoration of water harvesting bodies, cultural exchange, artists residencies, and launch of Vedaaranya Heritage and Healing festival at Ramgarh Shekhawati as well as Heritage India Cyclothon.

The projects and initiatives are listed below

1:Nine-Day exhibition“Ramgarh Shekhawati–Past Present and Future” at Jaipur by Shruti Foundation (SF) in collaboration with Govt. of Rajasthan (GoR), bringing Ramgarh Shekahawti’s Tourism potential into sharp focus.

2:Ramgarh Shekhawati Heritage Walk – SF and GoR Collaboration (2015-16). I personally guided and supervised development of new roads, signage, heritage lights, fences, benches, Johad restoration.

3:HERITAGE RESORTATION at RAMGARH SHEKHAWATI, RAJASTHAN-ONGOING since November 2013 – Sites where Restoration has been done so far:

• Ramgarh Fort – restored with lime technology – made it usable for festivals and events
• DeepchandKishanlal Poddar Haveli
• Vedaaranya Haveli
• Haveli (S3) near BehramalKuan (Current)
• Anantram Poddar Johad repair and fencing- under shruti foundation’s supervision executed by GoR.
• BirkaJohad (Water harvesting heritage body) – under Shruti Foundation’s supervision executed by Govt. of Rajasthan

4:Vedaaranya Heritage and Healing Festival (VHAH FEST) – Launched bySF in December 2016. It is now an annual festival in collaboration with GoR. Click link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVPYc4qsEVU

5.“Heritage India Cyclothon” SF launched this Cyclothon as an annual event in collaboration with GoR, on 31st March 2019. This was launched to create awareness of “Saving Our Heritage” which is other great threat of destruction particularly in the specular heritage towns of Shekhawati.

6.Artist Residencies – We have various one month residencieswith international artists who come and research as well as interact with local communities and do workshops with school students.

7: “Vedaaranya Retreats” marketed by our company Nada Vibronics Pvt. Ltd., attract tour operators to our Healing in Heritage with our inhouse expertise as a Vibrational Healers and mentors

8:Declaration as Heritage Town: In 2017, on our intervention, the town was declared as a heritage town by the Local Government department GoR.

9:Museum development –since 2017, SF is developing a large museum on Shekhawati Seths and their Heritage, Treasures, Glory and great Social Ethos. We have catalogued 2500 artefacts . The land has also been acquired.

10. Shachalayas for Women oriented families and girls schools. Since 2014, the foundation has built Shauchalayas for the local community empowering more than 700 lives.Shruti Foundation received a Swachh Bharat award from GoR for building Shauchalyas at Ramgarh.

11. Women Empowerment –SF created a Rug Making Centre made by women from recycled material at Ramgarh Shekhawati since April 2019. This has empowered more than 50 poor women and girls in three months.

12. SF Student Workshops since 2014 in Dance, Heritage Awareness, Theatre, Textiles, Kalaripayat Martial Arts, etc.

13. Tree-planting drives to help environment.

The impact has been obvious –

The Govt. has allotted funds for development of Ramgarh Shekhawati at a recognized heritage town.

There is increased tourist inflow with our hospitality facilities and unique wellness and heritage retreats.

The Vedaaranya Heritage and Healing Festival (VHAH FEST) has got the greatest Indian performers and artists (Padma Awardees) including Rajan Sajan Misra, Sonal Mansingh, Dr. Shovana Narayan, Shubha Mudgal, Taufik Qureshi, Parvati Baul, along with our great and local Rajasthani folk singers and dancers to Ramgarh Shekhawati. VHAH FEST is attracting more and more people every year thus increasing economic opportunities for the local vendors and crafts persons and participatory opportunity for the entire local community including students, youth, women and the general local community and a chance for global travellers and artists and locals to interact and create friendships and great learning and commercial opportunities.

Ramgarh Shekhawati is now been targeted as a special destination for Healing and Wellness retreats in Heritage Havelis, this creating a special niche for Wellness Offerings in Heritage tourism in Rajasthan.

The multi million dollar Vedaaranya project as a collaboration between Nada Vibronics and Shruti Foundation has taken off and is attracting the Haveli owners back to their roots, as well as other investors, conservation architects, Tourism Stalwarts, Cultural Stalwarts, celebrated Artists and Hollywood professionals to come to together to target Ramgarh Shekhawati as the Unique Heritage Habitat and a thriving new Integrated Tourism destination of the Future in the next 5 years.

The local population has woken up to the significance of the great heritage of Shekhawati, particularly the youth and students. It is the beginning of a deep cultural awakening, which will be the harbringers of the resurgence of many such microcosmic heritage havens waiting to be revived with a view to holistic nurturing of all at the grassroots.