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Bumthang:
Thegchog Chholing Anim Shaydra (institute for higher studies for nuns)
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Her Majesty Ashi Tshering Yangdon Wangchuck lays the foundation stone
Her
Majesty the Queen Ashi Tshering Yangdon Wangchuck laid the foundation
stone for the construction of a residential wing of the Thegchog Chholing
Anim Shaydra (institute for higher studies for nuns) at Tang Bebzur
in Bumthang.
The rabney
ceremony was conducted by Gangtey Trulku, the founder of the shaydra,
and the anims of the institute. |
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he
single-storey building, constructed in traditional architecture, will accommodate
more than 200 nuns. The shaydra also plans an academic wing, hostels, a
meditation hall, library with networked computers for research and learning,
a self-sufficient solar power system, and a clinic to attend to minor illnesses.
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According
to the Bumthang dzongda, Kunzang N. Tshering, the institute has plans to
build a separate lhakhang (monastery) and to develop a centre for
spiritual learning which can accommodate about 500 nuns, enabling women
from all parts of Bhutan to visit and to spend time studying Buddhism.
"There
are many girls who cannot pursue higher studies after Class XII, who are
interested in enrolling as anims in the institute," the Bumthang dzongda
said. |
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The
construction will be funded by Gangtey Trulku who founded the institute
as the first shaydra for women on the same spot, known as Pema Chholing,
housed in temporary huts. There are about 100 anim students in the institute.
Many
of the anims joined with little or no education, some of them as young
as 11 years and the oldest being 60 years. They study and meditate and
receive a traditional curriculum that was not available to women.
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Bumthang:
Kunchosoum Lhakhang
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Bumthang:
Tamzhing Lhakhang
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The
nuns begin the day at 5:00 am and wind up their daily chores by 6.00 pm
to begin evening studies with the help of kerosene lamps. The curriculum
includes English, Dzongkha, logic, embroidery, stitching and the making
of traditional crafts to equip them with the skills to earn a living for
themselves and to benefit their communities in the future.
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Monastery in Bumthang
According
to the Bumthang dzongda, Kunzang N. Tshering, the institute has plans to
build a separate lhakhang (monastery) and to develop a centre for
spiritual learning which can accommodate about 500 nuns, enabling women
from all parts of Bhutan to visit and to spend time studying Buddhism.
"There
are many girls who cannot pursue higher studies after Class XII, who are
interested in enrolling as anims in the institute," the Bumthang dzongda
said. |
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Studies
vary with the capacity of each student and 11 women are already in the
third year of the rigorous nine-year course of study at the shaydra.
Dzongda
Kuenzang N. Tshering said that, in the long term, the pursuit of education
and spiritual practice by women at Thegchog Chholing will be of immense
benefit in training women teachers in the Buddhist tradition.
Dzongkhag
officials and the community of the Tang valley attended the foundation-laying
ceremony.
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