About Rajib Sarma, Founder of Kamakhya.org

Vision and Contributions to Kamakhya’s Legacy

“No species wants to perish. Life loves life; … take a proper care of this beautiful planet which has been so gloriously created by the divine forces of the cosmos…”

A practicing hereditary Chandi Pathak Priest of Kamakhya Temple and a Purnabhishek Sadhaka in the Kul acara Tantra Marga of the Kamakhya Temples’ Complex.

Received “KRISHI VISHARAD SAMMAN” from the Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India for the contribution towards conservation, management and sustainable utilization of Agro-biodiversity and Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) of the North-Eastern Region of India.

Memberships and Foundations

Life Member of North East India History Association (NEIHA), Institute of Historical Studies and Pachimbanga Itihas Samsad. Conceptualized and established two key non-profit organizations:

Foundation for Development Integration (FDI) in 1998: Focused on human race, habitat, biodiversity, and sustainable development.

Foundation for History and Heritage Studies (FHHS) in 2007: A research organization, reference library, and archive.

Research and Academic Contributions

Guidance for International Scholars and Research Contributions

Providing research assistance and guidance to international PhD scholars and Post Graduate students since 2005 on the topics related to the tantra, esoteric tradition, religious tradition, religious philosophy, socio-religious culture, history, heritage, etc. of the Kamakhya Temples’ Complex, Kamrup and Assam. The PhD scholars are from- California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), San Francisco, USA & University of Rome, Italy and the PG student is from- Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, USA.

Delivering Guest Lecture for the Post Graduate students of the Department of Philosophy and Religion, California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), San Francisco, CA, USA.

Major Projects and Initiatives

One of the Project Leads and Partners in a Project under the BRITISH LIBRARY ENDANGERED ARCHIVES PROGRAMME (https://eap.bl.uk/)

Actively involved in research-based projects related to the conservation, management, sustainable utilization and mainstreaming of “Agrobiodiversity & Plant Genetic Resources” sponsored / implemented by the UN Environment (UNEP), Global Environment Facility (GEF), Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT and ICAR (Min. of Agri., Govt. of India), ICAR-NBPGR, UGC, Dept. of Biotechnology, Dept. of Science & Technology since 1998.

• Created a research-based documentary feature film titled “WHO IS BAUL” in collaboration with Vikram Sampath, PhD (Sahitya Academy Award winner Author, Historian and Musician) and Ricky Kej (Two times Grammy-Award winning Musician). The feature film has been released on YouTube.
• Involved as one of the “Project Lead” in a project titled “Creation of a Digital Ethnographic Archive of the indigenous communities of North Eastern India” jointly initiated in collaboration with Vikram Sampath, PhD (Sahitya Academy Award winner Author, Historian and Musician).
• Conceptualized and established a “Field Gene Bank” for the conservation, research and sustainable utilization of the endangered / vulnerable / nearly extinct Heirloom Native Crop Varieties and Plant Genetic Resources and the same is operational since the year 2018. Presently, 341 Paddy, 10 Green Gram, 19 Black Gram, 07 Sesame, 15 Mustard and 02 Pigeon Pea have been brought under the initiative in the “Field Gene Bank”.

Conservation and Agro-Biodiversity Campaigns

Conceptualized and initiated the endeavours, “Conserve Gene Campaign” since 2018 for spreading awareness on conservation, management and sustainable utilization of Agro-biodiversity & Plant Genetic Resources and other related core issues.

• Established a Community Seed Bank (CSB) in Jorhat District of Assam to create a community managed and controlled “Seed System” for the native crop varieties involving the farmers to augment the objectives of conservation, management, sustainable utilization and value chain development for the native crop varieties at the grassroots level.
• Expedition in the River Brahmaputra and its Tributaries covering the River Islands, Char Areas, and areas along the banks of the river inaccessible by road for undertaking extensive Survey, Exploration, Documentation, Collection of Germplasm and Awareness Generation for Conservation and of Agro-biodiversity & Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) and its related ITK / TK. Distance Covered: Around 1800 km in 58 days
• Expedition in Mount Saramati and its adjoining areas (Patkai-Borail Range of the Eastern Himalayas) of the Indo-Myanmar border of Nagaland in collaboration with Botanical Survey of India (Eastern Circle, Shillong, Meghalaya) for undertaking extensive Survey, Exploration, Documentation, Collection of Germplasm and Awareness Generation for Conservation and of Agro-biodiversity & Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) and its related ITK / TK.

Projects for Kamakhya and Heritage Preservation

GIS Mapping and Conservation Projects

Implemented a project for conducting Research Based Exploratory & Analytical GIS Mapping of the Kamakhya Hill in collaboration with North East Space Applications Centre (NESAC), Dept. of Space, Govt. of India.

Creation of a Conservation Site for Plant Genetic Resources and Afforestation initiative undertaken on the Kamakhya Hill in collaboration with the Kamakhya Temple Authority with the support of CSR fund of SBI.

Research Archives and Library at Kamakhya

Established a reference library containing 25000+ hard copies and 15000+ soft copies of rare books, monographs, journals, documents, manuscripts, maps, etc. under the public charitable trust, Foundation for History and Heritage Studies at Kamakhya.

Established an archive of 150+ ancient handwritten manuscripts, documents, copper plates on Ritual Practice, Tantra, Religious Philosophy, Applied Ritual References, etc. mostly related to Kamakhya under the public charitable trust, Foundation for History and Heritage Studies at Kamakhya.

Undertaking exploratory study, research, and documentation initiatives on tantra, esoteric tradition, religious tradition, religious philosophy, socio-religious culture, comparative religion, iconography, history, demography, socio-anthropology, archaeology, socio-cultural tradition, ethnography, etc. of Kamakhya Temples’ Complex and other temples intrinsically linked with Kamakhya, located in and around Guwahati, as well as in erstwhile Kamrup

Compiled books on Tantra (relating to Kamakhya) in English and on the Kamakhya Devi, Deities of Kamakhya Group of Temples & other Deities intrinsically linked with Kamakhya, located in erstwhile Kamarup in Assamese, Bengali, Hindi & English.

Notable Research Presentations

(1) “The Need and Role of Digital Humanities in the Conservation and Sustainability of Indigenous Communities and their Cultures: The North East of India as a Case Study” in the South Asia Regional Conference of International Society for Music Education (ISME, an UNESCO organization) held in Bangalore, India;

(2) “Kamakhya Temples’ Complex of Kamakhya Hill: Exploring the Historical and Religio-social Perspective” in a Lecture Series organized by the Assam State Museum, Guwahati, Assam in collaboration with India Foundation for The Arts (IFA), Bangalore;

(3) “Indigenous Technical Knowledge and Traditional Knowledge” held at Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture, Guwahati, Assam (India).

Conceptualized, created and launched the Trademark Registered Brand “NATIVE BASKET” to promote Heirloom Native Crop Varieties and its Processed Products of North East India.

“I expect to pass through life, but once, if therefore, there is any kindness I can show or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again….”