Our origin story
Our story begins in Manjakkudi, the birthplace of Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati who had been the inspiration and driving force behind the origins of Spirit of the Earth. On August 2012 the first 3 varieties were sown by Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati with the belief and prayer to give back to Mother Earth.
At our artisanal farm at Manjakudi, over 289 heirloom varieties from across India have been carefully Preserved, Conserved, Researched and Cultivated for you to explore. From the farm to the kitchen and finally to your dining table, we are germinating a whole new revolution of bringing back traditional rice varieties of India.
And we THANK YOU for being a part of this journey.
Even 70 years ago, over 100,000 heritage rice varieties were being cultivated across India. Each variety was indigenous to a particular region and had a very unique shape, taste and fragrance. They were adaptable to a range of climatic conditions and suited the India environ. And then, the scenario changed and these varieties started becoming rare and extinct even. This is where our story starts. Spirit of the Earth is dedicated towards reviving these lost rice varieties.
At our farm, we hand select the purest line of heirloom seeds from our farmer network across the country and cultivate following traditional patterns. We harvest only once in a year, using sustainable farming practices. We use our resources responsibly and let the soil rest and replenish between harvests. The enriched soil helps to produce artisanal heritage rice varieties from different states of India. The rice produced at our farm is in limited supply – these semi-milled grains have beautiful color, shape, flavor, fragrance, stories and are loaded with immense nutritional benefits.
Our Founder
Ms. Sheela Balaji, Chairperson & Managing Trustee, Social Entrepreneur
Ms. Balaji received the ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar 2017’ award from the Ministry of Women & Child Development. This award is one of the highest civilian honours bestowed exclusively upon inspirational women. Recently, she was made a non officio member of the Council of the National Culture Fund, Ministry of Culture, Government of India for a three year period till March 2025.
Inspired by her Guru, Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Ms. Sheela Balaji, Chairperson and Managing Trustee of AIM for Seva and Swami Dayananda Educational Trust (SDET) has directed her efforts towards educating rural India. Under her stewardship, AIM for Seva now has a K2K presence, Karnaprayag to Kanyakumari, spanning 190 projects, touching the lives of over 20 million individuals. At Manjakkudi village in Tiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu, the birthplace of Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Ms. Balaji directly oversees the functioning of three educational institutions and related projects. These include a Vedapatashala and a Vedanta study centre. As part of sustainable living initiatives, she has been the driving force behind the revival, organic cultivation and re-introduction of over 289 heritage rice varieties from across India under the label, Spirit of the Earth (SOTE). This initiative includes maintaining a gaushala for indigenous breeds of cattle at Manjakkudi.