Bylakuppe: Students of Goa University’s Department of Sociology, headed by Prof. Joana Coelho, visited the Tibetan settlements in Bylakuppe, district of Mysuru. During their two-day visit from 28 to 29 January 2023, they visited Old Age People Home, Sambhota and TCV Schools, Organic Research Training Center, Sera Monastery, Namdrolling Monastery and Tashi Lhunpo Monastery.
The enthusiastic students along with their professors were received by the two accountants of Lugsung Samdupling and Dekyi Larsoe Tibetan settlements.
The students shared their overwhelming experiences about how Tibetans toiled the land in Bylakuppe and their interaction with the locals. More importantly, the students were familiarised with the in-depth of Tibet’s proximity to India, both culturally and geographically. They were educated on the introduction of Buddhism in Tibet preserved by Indian masters and Tibetan scholars. They were familarised with the subsequent crackdown on the religious practices of Tibetans inside Tibet which was brought upon by the Chinese Communist invasion and the revival of Tibet’s religion and cultural identity in exile.
Sera Mey Abbot Ven. Geshe Tashi Tsering, who received the students and shared his journey from Tibet to India, India to the United Kingdom and then back to India, where he is currently engaged in enriching both the traditional wisdom of Buddhism and modern education faculties amongst the monk of Sera Monastery.
Particularly at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, they had a formal interaction with the faculty of the monastery. Prof. Joana Coelho recounted her days of first engagement with the Tibetan Community in exile when the MoU was signed with Drepung Loseling Monastery on SEE learning and mutual exchange of academic discourses. She expressed hope that her students will be able to see and study the agony and aspirations of Tibetan people in the light of both practical and theoretical information that they may imbibe through these interventions.
Chief Administrator of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, Khyilkhang Rinpoche, presented a token souvenir entitled “Tibet’s Stolen Child” a book about His Eminence Panchen Lama – the youngest political prisoner of the world – kidnapped by the Chinese Communist Government.
-Report filed by Chief Representative Office Bangalore