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Welcome to the KnowYourRoots family. We are delighted that you are considering becoming a part of our journey and mission.

Thank you in advance.

What is KnowYourRoots Foundation?

The mission of KnowYourRoots Foundation (KYRF) is to impart leadership, character, and life principles of Sanatana Dharma to the next generation of Indians living in India and abroad, by educating them about our rich heritage and making them aware of the deep cultural, scientific, spiritual, and dharmic roots they come from.

Sanatana Dharma is the operating system of the world. The word Sanatana means ‘one which is eternal’. Our Rishis observed the presence of Sanatana Dharma all around them, experienced the essence of it during deep meditation (taadaatmya stithi), and narrated what they heard in the form of divine scriptures like Vedas and Upanishads. 

A small analogy to drive this point home. This is drawn from the book ‘Bhaarateeya Sanatana Dharmamu’ in Telugu by Dr. B.V.S. Murthy and published by Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD). Did Isaac Newton invent Gravity? No, he did not. He merely observed the presence of gravity, and later explained it in the form of physical laws so scientists, engineers, and also common people can understand.

What We DO

Key Focus Areas of KYRF

Our name reflects our mission, with our activities having two main focus areas: KNOW & ROOTS!

KNOW – Programs to educate and inspire the next generation of Indians about their roots, so they can imbibe the right leadership and life principles to grow into being good citizens for the world. 

Under KNOW, we organize vocal & dance performances by Indian and Non-Resident Indian (NRI) gurus and their students in historic Hindu temples in India and around the world. We also organize expert lectures and visits to heritage sites in India.

To date, we organized over 25 tours and performances in multiple temples in India, such as Kashi (Varanasi), Chidambaram, Thanjavur, Madurai, Chennai, Vijayawada, and Hyderabad. Beyond India, we also took our group of vocal and dance gurus, and their students, to perform in Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

ROOTS – Programs to rejuvenate, strengthen, and deepen our roots to nurture generations of Indians for the next 1,000 years.

The roots of Sanatana Dharma that we focus on fall into three main categories:

• Divine Literature: Our divine Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Itihasas, and Kirtanas were gifted to us by our ancient Rishis, Scholars, Poets, and Vaggeyakaras to perpetuate the essence of Sanatana Dharma to generation after generation
• Divine Temples: Our temples have been constructed with deep scientific, engineering, and spiritual thought as places for people to gather to receive divine blessings and to share their gratitude and pujas to their favorite deities.
• Divine Mathams: Our mathams or centers of dharmic excellence were established thousands of years ago with a well-defined Guru-Sishya (Teacher-Student) parampara for Vedic knowledge to be learned, propagated, practiced, and shared.

Under ROOTS, we take up projects in one or all of these categories.

“KNOW” Initiatives for 2024

Experiential tours

We plan to organize 4 major tours to Hindu heritage sites and temples in India and around the world for vocal and dance gurus, and their students to perform. During these tours, we will organize lectures by eminent scholars for the performers to become aware and connect to the rich history of the sites and temples they are performing in. 

Omkaara TV

Media plays a critical role in sharing news or messages with a large audience. We recognize the lack of a TV channel that is dedicated to perpetuating the essence of Sanatana Dharma that is brought to us by our Rishis in the form of Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Itihasas, Kirtanas, and more.

In today’s digital and fast-paced world, we need to break down the Sanatana Dharma principles into micro podcasts, learning modules, mini-lectures, demonstrative programs with a key message, and also share news about events happening around the country related to the preservation and perpetuation of Sanatana Dharma.

Omkaara TV will fill this void, starting in the state of Tamilnadu, and eventually expand to many other states in India.

“ROOTS” Initiatives for 2024

One of the most exciting projects that we have been supporting since 2021 is the MyTemple initiative, connecting Indians and NRIs to temples in their native village, town, or city. This initiative provides direct financial and logistical support to temples across the great land of India, especially those that have been neglected by the local or state governments, and those that need to be rejuvenated and made to thrive.

MyTemple came up with a brilliant idea – start offering small grants to the Pujaris (Archakas) to offer Maha Prasadam (blessed food) on 1 or 2 days of the week, so devotees who live near the temple can benefit from this Anna Danam (Gift of food).

In 2024, we aspire to support up to 1,000 temples across the great land of India, to run the MahaPrasadam programs.