This is the story about Yogi Amitram and I, and the incredible achievements of building a 1200 sqft off-grid Earthship at his new Yoga Ashram in Rishikesh. Yogi Amitram was inspired by Earthship Biotecture and got in touch with me in 2014 to ask for my help to assist him with the creation of the first Earthship inspired Yoga Ashram in the world. I get a lot of calls for help, but Yogi Amitram's passion, conviction and his beautiful nature inspired me to help him. He had no money and was planning to fund raise for the build as we went along. He had faith and total belief in what he was doing, and was happy to attend a workshop I was holding in south India at just that time. Yogi Amitram traveled 1000's of Km's to attend, and I was duly impressed that he not only did all the grunt work in his white robes, but also somehow managed to keep them clean! That is a sign of a true Yogi!

Yogi Amitram understands the needs of our time, and what needs to be done to change things for the better in this world. He is a living embodiment of love and compassion, and is an incredible example of someone who can achieve anything with nothing, because he has conviction, faith, courage and the Grace of God. It was an honour and a total pleasure to help Yogi Amitram, especially during the actual 2 week workshop. The conditions that we had to bare were pretty harsh, but despite the very challenging circumstances (minimal power, almost zero water for bathing), this workshop was by far the most enjoyable and the most rewarding!

After many discussion and phone calls we hatched a plan in 2014 and I came up with a design for his Earthship. Yogi Amitram wanted to build something BIG and fully functional. This would be an Earthship with several Kw of solar power, Rainwater harvesting, Interior Food Production using botanical cells, Solar Hot Water, Natural Convection Cooling Systems etc. I committed to going to Rishikesh for two weeks, and organizing and leading the whole build during that time. After two weeks I hoped that we would have done enough of the work that Yogi Amitram could then complete the build in his own time.

I look forward to sharing the story of this build, which was the last workshop that I have held! There are many fun stories, and some amazing photos and movies to share. We had a beautiful, really amazing group of people that included some dedicated photographers and movie makers. I will be sharing these during these posts.

To start you off I am sharing a really beautiful and inspiring 8 minute movie about this build and the people involved. This one is really worth a watch!

Earthship Build in India at Rishikesh Yoga Ashram

I hope you enjoy this upcoming series! It is truly inspirational to see what a small group of dedicated and passionate people can achieve in just TWO weeks!

The photos below are all from this workshop. I'm sure that you can see this was something special and a greaty joy. Self building can be an incredibly uplifting experience!