Monastery360 – Digital Heritage Platform for Sikkim’s Monasteries

🚀 Preserving the sacred heritage of Sikkim’s monasteries through immersive VR, AI-powered narration, and a digital marketplace supporting local communities.

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📖 Overview

Sikkim is home to more than 200 ancient monasteries, many dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries, each carrying spiritual, cultural, and architectural significance. Unfortunately, many remain inaccessible to tourists and researchers due to geography, lack of awareness, and limited preservation efforts.

Monastery360 solves this challenge by creating a digital heritage platform where users can:

• Explore monasteries in 360° Virtual Reality
• Access digitized archives of manuscripts and murals
• Experience AI-powered cultural narration
• Support local communities via a digital artisan marketplace

Our vision: Where ancient wisdom meets modern innovation.

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✨ Key Features

• 🌐 Virtual Tours – 360° panoramic monastery walkthroughs (VR-enabled).
• 🗣️ Narrated Walkthroughs – Multi-language cultural storytelling.
• 🗺️ Interactive Map – Geo-tagged monastery locations with nearby attractions.
• 📚 Digital Archives – Rare manuscripts, murals, and historical documents.
• 🤖 AI-Powered Search – Intelligent categorization and discovery.
• 🎧 Smart Audio Guide – Bluetooth/GPS-based location-aware guides.
• 📅 Cultural Calendar – Festivals, rituals, and events schedule.
• 🛍️ Artisan Marketplace – Promote & support local handicrafts.
• 📶 Offline Mode – Accessible in remote regions without internet.

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🏗️ Architecture

• Frontend: React.js, Next.js, TailwindCSS, Three.js, Framer Motion
• Backend: Node.js, Express.js, GraphQL, Django (separate repo linked below)
• Database: MongoDB, Firebase, MySQL, PostgreSQL
• AI/ML: TensorFlow, PyTorch, OpenAI APIs, Unity3D for VR
• Deployment: Vercel, Netlify, Google Cloud, Render

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🔗 Backend Repository

👉 Monastery360 Backend Repo

This repo handles:

• User authentication & authorization
• API for monastery archives & 3D models
• AI-powered cultural narration service
• Admin dashboard for cultural data uploads

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📂 Project Structure

Monastery360/
│── public/              # Static assets (icons, images, 3D models)
│── src/
│   ├── components/      # Reusable React components
│   ├── pages/           # Next.js pages
│   ├── styles/          # TailwindCSS styles
│   ├── utils/           # Helper functions
│   └── hooks/           # Custom hooks
│── package.json
│── README.md

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⚙️ Installation & Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 16
• npm or yarn
• MongoDB / Firebase instance

Steps

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/KartikeyaGupta05/monastery360.git

# Navigate to project
cd monastery360

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run development server
npm run dev

Visit: http://localhost:4028 🎉

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🌍 Impact

• Tourism Boost – Making monasteries globally accessible.
• Cultural Preservation – Digitizing endangered heritage.
• Community Empowerment – Supporting local artisans & guides.
• Educational Outreach – Helping researchers & students.

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🤝 Contribution

We welcome contributions!

1. Fork the repo
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature-name)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m "Add new feature")
4. Push the branch (git push origin feature-name)
5. Open a Pull Request

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📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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🏛️ Supported By

• Government of Sikkim (Official support for heritage digitization)
• Ministry of Tourism (Sikkim)

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✨ Preserving the past, empowering the present, inspiring the future.