Overview
Bupsa monastery was one of our first projects completed in 2005 after the end of the Maoist conflict when the villagers in Bupsa approached the charity to ask for assistance in renovating the old building and putting a lama in place who could provide Buddhist studies for children in the region. At the opening the villagers moved all the Buddhist texts and accoutrements down from the caves in the mountains where they had been hidden for years
Bupsa gompa has a long historical tradition going back well over a hundred years. The original building was nearly collapsed during the Maoist conflict the stupa itself was completely neglected and the building had lost it's large mani wheel.
Nowadays the refurbished monastery is in regular use by the villagers and is often visited by Adventure Alternative clients on their way to climb Mera Peak.
When Moving Mountains first visited Bupsa, the monastery, 350 years old, was in a derelict state. The Maoist troubles had resulted in this part of the Solukhumbu region being bypassed by the popular Everest Base Camp Trail and the turmoil inflicted on village life resulting from the troubles saw the monastery largely abandoned.
Until recently (when Moving Mountains became involved) the village had no tourist income and villagers were struggling to make a living; most were almost entirely subsistent and many men, in particular, had left for Kathmandu, leaving women and children to struggle for survival in the village.
The structure was entirely renovated during several stages, re-plastered and re-painted by a specially trained painter who was able to depict scenes from Buddha’s life on every square inch of walls inside the building, creating a truly spectacular interior. The dry stone wall surrounding the monastery was in danger of collapse, so in 2009 a team of local villagers and Moving Mountains volunteers completed the full repair, with funding that the volunteers raised before traveling to Nepal.
Ancient Tibetan scripts were spirited across the Himalayas over a century ago and kept in the monastery in Bupsa, but were then hidden up in caves in the mountains during the Maoist conflict. When we opened the renovated monastery, all these books and Buddhist accoutrements were carried ceremoniously back down the mountain to take their place again at the heart of the village.
The new monastery and stupa was renovated and a new mani wheel put inside the building, and the community has benefitted from having a lama in place teaching Buddhist studies to children in the village.
The ‘School for Monks’ at the monastery is very popular in the community and children begin their studies there aged 6 or 7. The first four years is spent memorising all the words of the teachings of Buddha. This is followed by 5 years of ‘dharma’, understanding these teachings, and after this many different options are available to lama students. According to tradition, a family may promote one of their children to become a lama which bestows great honour upon that family.
At the start of 2010, several older lama students from Bupsa traveled to India to visit the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala and received an unprecedented 5-day personal sitting with his holiness, an incredible experience for everyone involved. (Tibetan Buddhism is the form of Buddhism generally followed and practiced in Nepal).
Climbing Everest for Bupsa Monastery
Our work to renovate the monastery at Bupsa began in 2002, in the middle of all the political problems and was completed in 2005 when a Buddha was purchased by Pasang Tendi Sherpa who climbed Everest with Gavin Bate (Moving Mountains founder and Chairman) in 2007, 2009 and 2011. The Buddha was delivered to the monastery for the local Lama to bless and officially open the building. After Gavin’s solo climb of Everest in 2005, he rushed back to the village in time for the big opening, which was attended by the whole community.
The monastery continues to be a place of peace and reflection, often used for pujas or ceremonies and parties, and always a heart of village life in Bupsa.
The monastery is also used a centre for a number of other community programmes, in this case above children are visiting for medical health check.
Would you like to get involved? Would you like to help? Would your school, university, family group, or a group of friends like to visit these places? Why not fundraise for a project and come out, get involved and help deliver it? Contact us on info@movingmountainstrust.org for more details, or have a look at some of the Moving Mountains trips that we run through our partner Adventure Alternative (who manage our international trips) here: Volunteering Trips. Schools Trips. Medical Trips.