How Your 2024 Donations Were Used

Last year’s Digital Dharma Drive contributions totaled $98,348, exceeding our goal of $80,000. These funds were allocated across a wide range of digital, artistic, and educational initiatives—with ten percent set aside to build the permanent Digital Dharma Drive Endowment, which will one day replace this annual appeal.

Below are highlights of the major accomplishments your generosity made possible in 2025.

Himalayan Academy Resources

After nearly three decades online, the Himalayan Academy website had grown into a vast digital archive. Last year our monks rebuilt it from the ground up, reconstructing databases, streamlining navigation, and integrating both proprietary and custom code. This project is ongoing as improvements are made for adding and viewing our many types of digital media.
AI narration of Gurudeva’s Trilogy and other key works
Amazon digital publishing projects, including Search for Siva (special Singapore edition of Know Thyself), Yoga Sutras, History of Hindu History, and a new full-color edition of Weaver’s Wisdom (The Tirukural)
Commissioned artwork from India for the redesigned Weaver’s Wisdom
Completed recording of all 1,454 songs of Saint Tayumanavar by a professional Oduvar for online access
Dozens of new artworks for the forthcoming Tayumanavar book, created in collaboration with ChatGPT and DALL·E
Acquired new publishing tools (Motion Array, Later, and Sora 2) for Path to Siva and Gurudeva’s Toolbox lessons, now featured on Instagram
Created dozens of 30-second Instagram video shorts based on Path to Siva and Gurudeva’s Toolbox
Created a custom URL shortener — nall.ai — for use in our publications

Expanding Digital Tools and Infrastructure

To support our growing online ecosystem, we invested in key creative and technical platforms, including:
Continued domain registrations and hosting services
Made major upgrades to our visitor reservations website
Apple Developer Program membership, enabling future app releases on the App Store
Android app development and ongoing security updates
Enhanced mailing service for newsletters and digital outreach
Web caching and backend improvements for faster content delivery
AI tools for editing, publishing, problem-solving and research
Set up an emergency satellite internet for connectivity during island outages
Added web security services protecting all platforms

Advancing Publishing, Media and Art

The past year saw a flourishing of creative output that deepens the reach and beauty of Gurudeva’s mission:
E-book creation for several titles—English and other languages
Expanded media resources, including improved search, metadata, audiobook distribution, and sacred music archives
Commissioning of artist Baani Sekhon (India) for eight formal portraits of our Satgurus — four completed so far: Nandinatha, Tirumular, the Rishi from the Himalayas, and Chellappaswami
Ongoing digital outreach through social media, short videos, and collaborations.

Our Gratitude

Each of these accomplishments stands as a testimony to your faith in this work. Through your donations, the monastery continues to blend timeless wisdom with modern technology—ensuring that the teachings of Saiva Siddhanta and Gurudeva’s vision reach seekers across the world for generations to come.