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Community prayers and recitation of Amitabha mantra at Dhondenling Tibetan Settlement, under tents without a community hall.
Dhondenling Tibetan Settlement, Kollegal, is in one of the most remote and underdeveloped Tibetan settlements in Southern India.
There are 46 Tibetan settlements in India, Nepal, and Bhutan, home to most of the 100,451 Tibetan refugees. These Tibetan settlements originate from the wish of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to set up settlements where Tibetan refugees could live as an exclusive community in order to preserve the unique Tibetan culture including language and the religious practices.
Dhondenling Tibetan settlement is located in the majestic Biligiri Rangam hills in Karnataka; it was established in 1974 with over 3,500 people.
The current population of the settlement is now 4,500. The settlement is scattered in 22 village clusters. There are eight small monasteries, a school, and a small care-home for elders (FPMT Charitable Projects has been supporting the elderly home for the past three years by providing 70% of the annual budget.) The elderly home has a capacity for thirty-two residents. There is also a hospital and a traditional Tibetan medicine clinic. These establishments cater to the religious, educational, and health-care of the residents of the settlement. The residents have formed a cooperative society to cater to the agrarian needs of the members. The principal livelihood occupation is agriculture raising mainly corn, with millet, potato, and garlic as optional crops.
Most Tibetan settlements in India, Nepal, and Bhutan have a multi-purpose community hall, as a central gathering place for all within the settlement to hold special religious and cultural functions. However, Dhondenling Tibetan Settlement, being one of the poorest settlements, did not have a community hall and any gatherings held for the 4,500 residents would happen outside under tents or tarps.
Community prayers continue at Dhondenling Tibetan Settlement despite the lack of proper accommodation for participants.
The community gatherings that happen throughout the year consist of:
- Public prayers for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and other religious heads, and world peace
- Annual OM MANI PADME HUM recitation retreat and 100,000 Praises to Tara that require public attendance for over 45 days
- Celebration of religious and social festivals
- Dharma teaching discourses for the residents in general and the younger generation in particular
- Cultural programs and events by students to encourage children to participate in extracurricular activities
- Parent-Teacher interactive sessions to exchange ideas and development of partnership perspective concerning child upbringing and education
These gatherings and activities are vital for preserving the Tibetan cultural heritage and lineages and for providing community support for those living in the settlement.
Seeing the incredible need for this multi-purpose community hall in Dhondenling Tibetan Settlement, and recognizing how important it is to preserve the unique Tibetan cultural heritage, in 2020 we applied for and received a grant for the purpose of building this community hall.
Site of the new community hall for Dhondenling Tibetan Settlement.
We were very happy to be a part of offering this support and US$158,741 was given to Dhondenling Tibetan Settlement for the building. In April 2020 they started the building process, buying necessary supplies for the foundations but quite soon due to COVID-19 restrictions which were strictly enforced by the government in South India, including in Dhondenling Tibetan Settlement, all building work was stopped in May. The lockdown was lifted after a few months, but there were still building restrictions and also restrictions in regards to outside people entering the Tibetan Settlement.
There was particular concern due to the fact that many people in the Tibetan Settlement live in very poor conditions and in close proximity. It was decided not to continue the building work of the community hall until the end of year (December 2020) due to precautions and to ensure not having too many outside laborers entering the Tibetan Settlement. All the building supplies that had been bought were carefully secured and protected during this time.
Work begins on this important community hall for 4,500 Tibetans.
From December 2020 to February 2021, the building work again commenced on the community hall. The work is going slower than expected, but is progressing.
We are extremely grateful to all who support the Social Services Fund, so that we can offer support such as this to Dhondeling Tibetan Settlement multi-purpose community hall for religious and cultural preservation and for the benefit of the 4,500 residents. Thank you.
All are welcome to support the Social Services Fund and help ensure beneficial grants like this can continue.