However, there are fewer nunneries than monasteries. Conversely, if a family had more than one daughter, it became a financial burden to marry them all off well. These are decisions that the parents would make, the child being too young to decide for himself. The oldest would stay back to care for the parents, marry and carry on the family lineage.įamilies with many sons were more likely to send off one son and at times two to a monastery. In Tibet, a “monk-tax” levied on families prompted parents to send a child, usually the second son, to a monastery. The tradition of sending a child to a monastery has its basis in an economic and religious rationale. Novices to nuns at their daily chores at Thukje Choeling Nunnery, an Ani Gompa Mantras are recited throughout.Īt the end of the day, the bowls are emptied one by one, starting from the right this time, dried and placed upside down. A little water is poured into each bowl, from left to right, until they are almost full to the brim. The ritual starts with seven clean bowls, called ting, each bowl representing an aspect of prayer, like prostration or confession, and a jug of fresh, clean water. The idea behind Yonchap, as the ritual of offering seven bowls of water is called, is that we should make our donation as freely as we would give water. All human life results from a person’s past karma, and his or her next life is dependent on the deeds and actions of their present life. The Monpa believe in the law of karma-any action or deed will have a corresponding result. In Monpa homes, it is customary to offer a bowl of water at the shrine, to light an incense stick and a butter lamp, and recite prayers, including the sacred mantra of Avalokitesvara, Om mane Padme hum. Seven bowls of water were placed at an altar as an offering. On either side of the nave, brightly coloured rows of mattresses were laid out where the young novices had sat during morning prayers. The early morning assembly was over, and the hall empty. Inside the Dukhang, shafts of light cut through the dark interior illuminating paintings of deities along its walls. The sun’s rays stream in through upper storey windows A quick tour of the premises and we settled for one.Ī beam of light cuts through the dark interior of the Dukhang. I followed Baro into one building and up a flight of stairs. The key lay in finding one small enough where we could get our chai. They are huge operations, capably of feeding 400 lamas at a time. In a large complex such as the Tawang monastery, there is no shortage of kitchens. Instead, we went looking for a cup of tea. A tall pole called a Darchog in the monastery courtyard is used to string up prayer flags.īaro and I arrived at the monastery quite early the first morning but not early enough to catch the young lamas enjoying their first assembly of the day. Today, it is a home away from home for 400 young novices. In the photo above, two large buildings, the Dukhang and the library overlook the residential quarters for young Monpa monks and novices who are trained from an early age in the Gelugpa sect of the Mahayana school of Buddhism. There are deep gorges to the south and west, a narrow ridge to the north and a gradual slope to the east.

Precariously situated on the spur of a hill, the monastery is under constant threat from landslides, particularly during the monsoon. And it was here in the 17th century that a horse led a monk to a serene mountain valley where he built a monastery and called it Tawang-“ta” for horse and “wang” for green pasture. It was here that the 14th Dalai Lama spent a few days after fleeing Tibet in 1959. The Gaden Namgyal Lhatse, built in the 1680s, is one of the largest monasteries in Asia, second only to Potala Palace in Lhasa. The 14,000 ft cloud capped peak of Chongchong Ma rises in the background

12th dalai lama