BIR, HIMACHAL PRADESH, INDIA: Earthville’s Dharmalaya team is celebrating the completion of the ground floor for the Dharmalaya Institute, an eco-friendly service-learning campus in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas. The Institute is being constructed in a style based upon the traditional vernacular architecture of the area, known as “Kangra style,” using eco-friendly materials and non-mechanized building methods, creating green jobs for rural villagers and helping to preserve the traditional earthen architectural practices of the region.

Ground floor complete

The Dharmalaya Institute is being construction by a group of over a dozen Himalayan craftspeople, assisted by volunteers from around the world, who enjoy the opportunity to learn Himalayan green building hands-on, working alongside the local laborers and making friends along the way.

Would you like to support this unique East-meets-West service project? Dharmalaya is in need of cash contributions, grants, and other material support. Dharmalaya is a project of the Earthville Network and is also a registered charitable society in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, so all charitable donations are tax-deductible in India and the US.

Get Involved

Here are a few ways you can participate:

• VOLUNTEER: Come to Bir (in northern India) to volunteer.    details ›
• DONATE: Make a charitable donation to support our eco-construction and the green jobs it creates (tax-deductible in the US and India).  details ›
• SPONSOR TREES: Offset your carbon emissions for the year, while creating more green jobs, by sponsoring tree plantings in the Earthville Orchards at just $2 US per tree (also tax-deductible).    details ›
• SPREAD THE WORD: Forward this story to your friends, post it on your blog, share this story on Facebook and “like” the Earthville and Dharmalaya FB pages, send forth a mighty tweet, or, you know, talk to people. 

For more information about the Dharmalaya Institute and how you can get involved, see the Dharmalaya website.