Most side projects solve a problem.
This one tried to create a feeling.
I built Sarathi, a devotional self-growth platform inspired by the Bhagavad Gita. The goal wasn’t to create another content website with verses and explanations. I wanted it to feel immersive — heavy, intentional, almost cinematic — like standing in Kurukshetra before wisdom is spoken.
Here’s how I approached it technically.
The Core Challenge
The real problem wasn’t displaying 700+ verses.
It was:
- How do you structure large static spiritual content without turning it into a cluttered blog?
- How do you design for emotional immersion without sacrificing performance?
- How do you balance sacred minimalism with modern UI expectations?
Designing for Immersion (Not Just UI)
The biggest design decision:
I didn’t want it to look like a SaaS dashboard.
Most content platforms are:
- White background
- Card layout
- Clean but emotionally neutral
But this subject demands weight.
So I focused on:
- Restrained color palette
- Depth-based layering
- Intentional spacing
- Minimal but strong typography
The challenge was resisting over-design.
Too many images → it becomes decorative.
Too much minimalism → it becomes sterile.
The balance is still evolving.
Performance Considerations
Handling hundreds of static entries taught me:
- Structure first, UI later.
- Static generation is powerful when content is stable.
- Data normalization prevents chaos when scaling.
- Avoid over-fetching — precompute what you can.
- Even content-heavy apps can feel instant if architected properly.
What I Learned
Designing for emotion is harder than designing for usability.
Content-heavy apps require discipline in data modeling.
Cultural / philosophical projects can be strong portfolio pieces — if built with engineering clarity.
A project with meaning pushes you further than a tutorial clone ever will.
What’s Next
- Stronger atmospheric visuals (fog layers, textured backgrounds)
- Emotion-based search
- Daily verse system
- Optional immersive mode vs minimal mode
- Audio integration
The goal isn’t just to build a website.
It’s to build an experience where technology carries philosophy.
If you’re curious, here’s the live project:
👉 https://sarathi-eta.vercel.app/
Would love feedback — especially on architecture and immersion balance.
Top comments (2)
The tension between making a product and expressing an idea is real in side projects. Most technical frameworks optimize for the former — routing, data fetching, SEO. The interesting constraint you are working with is that devotional content has pacing requirements that do not map well to typical UI interaction patterns. What you choose not to make interactive matters as much as the stack.
That’s a really sharp observation, especially about pacing.
You’re right. Most frameworks reward interaction density and speed, but devotional content requires intentional friction. I found myself questioning whether adding more UI features would actually dilute the experience.
The idea of “designing restraint” is something I’m still thinking through. What not to animate, what not to gamify, what not to optimize for speed.
Appreciate this perspective, it captures the core tension I was navigating.