Tibetan India
In March 1959 the Dalai Lama fled the Chinese occupation of Tibet (invaded 1950). He was welcomed by the Indian government and people and, over the years, India granted large tracts of land to Tibetan communities. Thus their monasteries, religion, language and culture have been able to thrive.
My second visit to India in 2011 was my first to Tibetan India. I travelled with my teacher the Venerable Panchen Otrul Rinpoche and a group of fellow students. We attended the teachings of the Dalai Lama in Sarnath, a village outside Varanasi, where the Buddha gave his first sermon after enlightenment.
L-R: First Sermon on Four Noble Truths (Pali script), Dhamek Stupa, Door of Tibetan Shrine
After the teachings – January 10-18 – we travelled across India by train to Amritsar and then jeep to MCleod-Ganj, Dharamasala in the foothills of the Himalayas. Every morning my roommate and I would walk the kora around the Dalai Lama’s palatial home (circumambulations reciting mantras on prayer beads).
Sleeper Train 2nd class AC. Sellers bring chai and coffee (in big kettles), soup, fruit and snacks.
My second and third visits in 2012 and 2019 were to the Tibetan settlement of Mundgod – “Little Tibet” – in Karnataka, southwest India, for which a Protected Area Permit was needed. Again, this was in the company of my lama and fellow students attending the teachings of His Holiness. We stayed in a large retreat house run by Rinpoche’s monks in India.
2012 On the balcony of Rinpoche’s retreat house and Drepung Loseling Monastery entrance.
2019 Drepung Loseling at night and Drepung Gomang during the day.
2019 Monks inside Drepung Gomang and ladies outside, after walking the kora.
My visits to Tibetan India always included a short stay in Majnutakilla, the Tibetan exile colony in north Delhi. This is a huge settlement of narrow winding streets crowded with houses, hotels, shops, guesthouses and restaurants alongside street stalls, a shrine and a monastery. (Photo credit: Hindi Times, India TV. Can’t find mine!)
And each time after the teachings of the Dalai Lama, I would set off by myself into the rest of India, travelling from place to place and visiting friends. See ADVENTURES – INDIA.
Tibetan India
In March 1959 the Dalai Lama fled the Chinese occupation of Tibet (invaded 1950). He was welcomed by the Indian government and people and, over the years, India granted large tracts of land to Tibetan communities. Thus their monasteries, religion, language and culture have been able to thrive.
My second visit to India in 2011 was my first to Tibetan India. I travelled with my teacher the Venerable Panchen Otrul Rinpoche and a group of fellow students. We attended the teachings of the Dalai Lama in Sarnath, a village outside Varanasi, where the Buddha gave his first sermon after enlightenment.
L-R: First Sermon on Four Noble Truths (Pali script), Dhamek Stupa, Door of Tibetan Shrine
After the teachings – January 10-18 – we travelled across India by train to Amritsar and then jeep to MCleod-Ganj, Dharamasala in the foothills of the Himalayas. Every morning my roommate and I would walk the kora around the Dalai Lama’s palatial home (circumambulations reciting mantras on prayer beads).
Sleeper Train 2nd class AC. Sellers bring chai and coffee (in big kettles), soup, fruit and snacks.
My second and third visits in 2012 and 2019 were to the Tibetan settlement of Mundgod – “Little Tibet” – in Karnataka, southwest India, for which a Protected Area Permit was needed. Again, this was in the company of my lama and fellow students attending the teachings of His Holiness. We stayed in a large retreat house run by Rinpoche’s monks in India.
2012 On the balcony of Rinpoche’s retreat house & Drepung Loseling Monastery entrance.
2019 Drepung Loseling at night & Drepung Gomang during the day.
2019 Monks inside Drepung Gomang & ladies outside, after walking the kora.
My visits to Tibetan India always included a short stay in Majnutakilla, the Tibetan exile colony in north Delhi. This is a huge settlement of narrow winding streets crowded with houses, hotels, shops, guesthouses and restaurants alongside street stalls, a shrine and a monastery. (Photo credit: Hindi Times, India TV. Can’t find mine!)
And each time after the teachings of the Dalai Lama, I would set off by myself into the rest of India, travelling from place to place and visiting friends. See ADVENTURES – INDIA.