Robyn completed her first permaculture design course (PDC) online with Geoff Lawton in 2019, and attended a month-long permaculture internship with him at the Greening the Desert site in Jordan.  She is now a teaching assistant for his online permaculture design course.  In 2024, she completed a second face-to-face PDC at Aranya Permaculture farm in Telangana, India. 

Robyn spent 2020 at Navdanya Biodiversity conservation farm outside Dehradun, working in the fields and seed bank.

She is a certified lab tech with the Soil Food Web School, and has worked with small farmers and market gardeners in Australia.

Anshul Khatkar is a BITS Pilani alumnus and a certified Classical Hatha Yoga teacher trained at Sadhguru Gurukulam. His teaching journey includes working with Isha Health Solutions, the Indian Army, IIT Bombay, IISc Bangalore and the Narayana Group. Over the last few years, he has been traveling across regions, offering authentic yoga and exploring conscious living as a way of life.

Anup’s work as an architect has taken him through rural India - building in villages, schools, and community spaces with a focus on hands-on practice, participatory design, and vernacular wisdom. His time at COSTFORD and the Laurie Baker Centre grounded me in humility, collaboration, and people-cantered building. Across all his work, he strives to integrate technical clarity with empathy, and design with social purpose.

Parul is a designer and architect, who joined Dharmalaya Institute’s team in 2024. The call of alternative materials is not merely a curiosity for her; it is a journey she is deeply committed to continuing, crafting spaces that honor both tradition and the earth. She is also a trained Hatha Yoga Teacher from the Isha Sadhguru Gurukulam, having completed 1,750 hours of intensive teacher training in classical Hatha Yoga.

Trained by Didi Contractor herself and her team of artisans, Shivraj is a treasure trove of detailed knowledge on the Kangra vernacular construction with 20+ years of experience as a carpenter. Much of the woodwork on Dharmalaya Institute’s campus is a result of his keen eye and workmanship. (He also makes amazing channa daal.)

From crafting outer scapes with earth to nurturing the inner scape, her journey now continues as an offering to live and share Yoga. A Bachelor’s graduate in Architecture from SOA, MSRIT, Bangalore, she spent over two years immersed in earthen masonry and eco-architecture at Dharmalaya. After completing Sadhanapada and the Classical Hatha Yoga Teacher Training at Sadhguru Gurukulam, she has been offering and assisting in Classical Hatha Yoga classes across varied groups and initiatives.

Daphne is a holistic architect, a certified Passive House consultant, a licensed Biogeometry practitioner, natural builder & craftsperson. She leads Dharmalaya Institute’s Architecture and Design faculty, and is cofounder of Dharmalaya’s sister school in the USA, Earthville Institute.

Mark Moore is an experiential educator, natural builder, meditation retreat facilitator, composer-producer, and writer-editor. Founder of the Earthville Network in the USA and cofounder of the Dharmalaya Institute for Compassionate Living in India and Earthville Institute in the USA, he has been launching and nurturing altruistic and creative projects around the world since 1997.

A cofounder of Dharmalaya Institute, Mai-Linh has been studying and practicing Buddhist teachings, yoga and meditation for decades. Living in Switzerland and doing service work internationally, she facilitates meditation programmes as well as workshops in communication and soft skills development. Her passion is to support people to grow into their potential.

Naresh is a builder from Rakkar, HP, with over 30 years of experience working with esteemed eco-architect Didi Contractor.

Surya is a ‘Structural Engineering with Architecture’ graduate from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. In his words: ‘I spent a long time in a world that was far removed from natural phenomena. In finding Dharmalaya and truly internalizing our philosophies, I found the patience and commitment to observe, reflect and finally act from a place of intention and cultivated wisdom.’

Sourabh is a mason and architect who has been a member of the visiting faculty at Dharmalaya Institute since the beginning and has led courses, workshops and earthen construction projects around India. He is currently studying at the School of Traditional Arts in London

Tsunma Kunsang Palmo is a nun in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition who has completed several years of retreat practice. She teaches meditation and facilitates retreats in India and Nepal and online with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche’s Tergar Learning Community.