International Festival of Buddhist Heritage of Ladakh, 2015

(22nd  to 30th  August, 2015)

Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre (MIMC) in collaboration with Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Bihar, International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) New Delhi, J&K Tourism and Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh, have decided to organize the 4th International Festival of Buddhist Heritage of Ladakh from 22nd to 30th August, 2015. The festival will be one of its kind which will promote Ladakh’s rich ethnic and diverse heritage. Being the land of tranquility, an oasis of peace, harmony and cradle of Buddhism with nature’s blessings, the event has the potential to become a prestigious feature of international stature in the cultural calendar of the region as well as to promote Ladakh as a distinct tourist, cultural and spiritual destination of the globe.

Ladakh, as a land of Dhamma and custodian of Buddhist heritage, has been promoting cultural exchange with other nations that shared Buddhist heritage in both economic as well as cultural prospective since time immemorial by promoting spiritual tourism through the message of peace, harmony and compassion.

 

This unique Festival is expected to attract a huge number of participants from foreign countries, renowned scholars, masters and artists from within the country and abroad. Apart from these dignitaries many eminent Buddhist scholars and other religious masters are also participating in this important event.

 

The Tentative Schedule for the festival is as follows:-

Date Timing Particulars
22nd August, 2015 (Saturday) 06:00 Onwards

04:00 PM

Arrival of Guests & rest for acclimatization

Registration

23rd August, 2015

(Sunday)

09:30 A.M-12:00 PM Inauguration of the International Festival of Buddhist Heritage of Ladakh 2015
12:00 PM- 01:30 PM Colorful Traditional Cultural Program
10:00 A.M Onwards Live Exhibition on Tribal Culture of Ladakh
10:00 A.M Onwards Photo Exhibition
07:00 PM Traditional Cultural Performance
24th August, 2015

(Monday)

09:30 AM Holy Ritual Mask Performance
10:00 A.M Live Exhibition on Tribal Culture of Ladakh
10:00 A.M Onwards Photo exhibition
10:00 AM International Buddhist Film Festival
25th August, 2015 (Tuesday ) 10:00 A.M Onwards Live Exhibition on Tribal Culture of Ladakh
10:00 AM Seminar on “Buddhist heritage of Ladakh” by many eminence scholars of Ladakh& abroad
06:00 PM Valedictory Ceremony of the IFBHL 2015

Followed by colourful traditional culture program

26th August, 2015 (Tuesday) –

31stAugust, 2015

Optional Heritage tour to famous monasteries like Hemis, Thiksay, Likir, Alchi, Lamayuru etc. and Places like Pangong Lake, Nubra Valley, etc.
Contact Details Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre (MIMC)

Devachan, Saboo Dho, P. O. Box # 22, Leh-Ladakh – 194101 (India)

Telephone +91-9906982024                  +91-1982-264372
Email ifbhl.mimc@gmail.com          infomimc@gmail.com
Website www.ifbhl.org                       www.mahabodhi-ladakh.org

Mahabodhi International Medication Centre (MIMC)

 

The Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre (MIMC) is a great example of one man’s vision turning into reality. Venerable Bhikkhu Sanghasena established the Mahabodhi International Meditation Center in 1986 to offer both spiritual instructions as well as desperately needed humanitarian services to impoverished people in the remote land of Ladakh.

 

Mahabodhi Devachan is built on the values and practices of the Buddha Dhamma. The Sanga provides the core leadership and vision for its development and working. The community of monks and nuns, students, elderly and disabled, staff and guests all have equal access to the timeless and life changing teaching of the Buddha.

A dedicated team of social workers, teachers, doctors, monks, nuns, community leaders and care-providers have created an integrated community at Devachan in Ladakh which provides comprehensive care to all segments of society: children, elderly, special needs individuals, monks & nuns, the sick, as well as those seeking spiritual development. The community has become a model for the region through sustainable, ecological development.

 

Venerable Bhikkhu Sanghasena

 

Venerable Bhikkhu Sanghasena was born in the remote Himalayan region of Ladakh – an ancient state located in the far north west of India, high on the Tibetan plateau. He was brought up within a deeply religious family, amongst people who followed the ancient Buddhist traditions and believed in peacefulness, humility and innocence as the natural way of life. At the age of seventeen he joined the Indian Army, where he developed a strong sense of personal discipline and responsibility.

 

1977 was a particularly significant year in his life, for this is when he felt the inner spiritual call and decided to leave the army. He left the mountains of Ladakh far behind him and became a committed disciple of the renowned Buddhist scholar and celebrated monk, Venerable Acharya Buddharakkhita Mahathera, the abbot of the Mahabodhi Society Vihara, Bangalore, South India.

 

In 1986 Venerable Bhikkhu Sanghasena founded the Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre (MIMC) in Ladakh. For the past 25 years Venerable Bhikkhu Sanghasena has tirelessly and selflessly worked to provide high quality education and safe shelter for underprivileged children, first-class healthcare for the sick and needy, empowerment and literacy programmes for women and other socially disadvantaged groups, a caring home for the aged and destitute, and many other humanitarian services.  The site for much of Venerable Bhikkhu Sanghasena’s humanitarian and spiritual service work has been the 200 acres of moon-like desert that now form the impressive backdrop to the main Mahabodhi Devachan campus in Choglamsar, Ladakh.

 

List of Activities of 0f MIMC

  1. Mahabodhi Sambodhi Retreat Centre: Dedicated to physical and mental well-being, social harmony, world peace and the realization of enlightenment.
  2. Mahabodhi Milarepa Meditation and Trekking Camps: Dedicated to spiritual life in harmony with nature.
  3. Mahabodhi Jetavana Monastery: Dedicated to the training of young monastic students.
  4. Mahabodhi Nunnery: Dedicated to the upliftment of Nuns and women.
  5. Mahabodhi Educational Programs: A holistic educational movement – dedicated to the eradication of illiteracy and poverty.
  6. Mahabodhi Residential School: Dedicated to holistic education to the children from far flung areas of Ladakh.
  7. Mahabodhi Boys Hostel: Dedicated to providing a safe home and inviting deprived children.
  8. Mahabodhi Girls Hostels: Dedicated to holistic education and providing a safe home and for inviting deprived children.
  9. Mahabodhi School and Hostel Project for visually impaired Children : Dedicated to the disabled children of Ladakh
  10. Mahabodhi Home for the Aged and Destitute: Devoted to the care and respect of the elderly and destitute.
  11. Mahabodhi Karuna Charitable Hospital: Dedicated to the welfare of sick people.
  12. Mahabodhi Mobile Health Clinic: Dedicated to health-care of the communities of remote and inaccessible areas.
  13. Mahabodhi Maitri Charity program: Dedicated to emergency relief for the very poorest members of society.
  14. Mahabodhi Environmental Projects: Dedicated to afforestation and nature conservation.
  15. Mahabodhi Zita and Horst Norberg Studio: Dedicated to promote and preserve Ladakh culture.
  16. Mahabodhi Interfaith Program: Dedicated to inter-religious harmony and peaceful co-existence.
  17. Mahabodhi Youth Wing: Dedicated to building character and confidence in local youths.
  18. Mahabodhi Adult Women Literacy Project: Dedicated to the empowerment of women.
  19. Mahabodhi Tingmosgang Branch School: Dedicated to education of rural children.
  20. Mahabodhi Bodhkharbu Branch School: Dedicated to education of deprived and neglected rural children.
  21. Mahabodhi Nubra Branch : Dedicated to education of rural children
  22. Mahabodhi Jammu Deepa Centre, Jammu: Dedicated to spiritual life in the city.
  23. Mahabodhi Meditation Centre, Chandigarh : Dedicated to spiritual life in the city
  24. Mahabodhi Padmaloka Girls Hostel, Chandigarh : Dedicated to the higher education of girl students

Monasteries in Ladakh

Ladakh

Ladakh, the Land of High Passes (la dwags), is one of the highest inhabited regions in the world. Located in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, this high-altitude cold desert is flanked by two formidable mountain ranges – the Karakoram to the northwest and the Great Himalayan range to the southwest. Between these two mountain ranges, there are smaller massifs such as the Ladakh and Zanskar mountain ranges, the altitude varies between 9,000 feet and 25,170 feet resulting in extreme temperatures – in winter, temperatures can drop down to a staggering minus 40 degrees Celsius while in summer they tend to soar up to 35 degrees.

The region is denied access to the monsoon-laden winds that sweep across much of North India by the Great Himalayas, so the main source of water remains the glaciers and heavy winter snowfall that feed the network of springs and streams. Many of these streams eventually join the major rivers that traverse the region. Foremost among them is the River Indus, which begins its journey near Mount Kailash in Tibet and enters Ladakh at Demchok, about 250km southeast of Leh. The Indus continues flowing through the central Ladakh heartland, before entering Pakistan. It was along this mighty river and its tributaries – the Zanskar, Shayok and Nubra rivers – that human settlements first arose in this austere environment.

Leh

Leh is the main headquarter of Leh district. It is said that the first settlement was started around Chubi during the reign of King Tashi Namgyal who built the castle and Gonkhang on top of the Tsemo hill. During the reign of King Singe Namgyal, the nine storied palace was built above the present old town. Leh means a garden with springs and plantation. In ancient times, Leh used to be an important trade centre on a feeder branch of the fabled Silk Route. Traders from Kashmir, Punjab and Central Asia halted here with their caravans en route to the mercantile cities of Chinese Central Asia such as Yarkand, Kashgar and Khotan. Today, Leh is an important tourist destination in India and has an airport located at the outskirts of the city.

Some of the well-known Monasteries located in Ladakh and Leh  are listed here

 

  1. Namgyal Tsemo Monastery (Fortress of Tashi Namgyal)
  2. Lhechen Palkar (Leh Palace)
  3. Shey
  4. Stok Palace
  5. Thiksey Monastery
  6. Stakna Monastery
  7. Takthok Monastery
  8. Hemis Monastery
  9. Matho Monastery
  10. Spituk Monastery
  11. Phyang Monastery
  12. Likir Monastery
  13. Basgo Monastery
  14. Alchi Monastery
  15. Rizong Monastery
  16. Tingmogang Monastery
  17. Samstanling Monastery
  18. Diskit Monastery
  19. Karsha Monastery
  20. Zongkul Monastery

References and source

http://www.mahabodhi-ladakh.org

http://ladakhkalachakra2014.com/monasteries-in-ladakh/

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