THOMAS L. KELLY : JOURNALISTIC

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25th Anniversary of founding of Triten Norbutse Monastery : 9th December 2012, marked the 25th Anniversary of Triten Norbutse Monastery.

Triten Norbutse monastery in Nepal began in 1977, when Yongdzin Rinpoche traveled from Menri monastery, India to Swayambhu near Kathmandu in search of a land for a monastery to serve the Bonpo community in Nepal.

3 main purposes in establishing a Bön monastery was
- to preserve the Bonpo culture and religion outside Tibet.
- to provide a full education and practice program for the Bonpos of Dolpo and Mustang, the outer regions of Nepal; although there are over twenty Bön monasteries in these areas, none of them are able to offer this possibility.
- to serve as a center for the social and religious life of the Bönpo communities.

Date: 9th December 2012.

25th Anniversary of founding of Triten Norbutse Monastery

9th December 2012, marked the 25th Anniversary of Triten Norbutse Mona ...

Updated: Dec 10, 2012 12:41am PST

50th Anniversary Swearing In of Peace Corps Volunteer Group 199 : 50th Anniversary Swearing In of Peace Corps Volunteer Group 199 in presence of The Ambassador of the United States of America Peter W. Bodde and Country Director, Peace Corps Nepal Andrea Wojnar-Diagne

Date: 30th November 2012
Venue: Kamal Kunj Kamaladi.

50th Anniversary Swearing In of Peace Corps Volunteer Group 199

50th Anniversary Swearing In of Peace Corps Volunteer Group 199 in pre ...

Updated: Nov 30, 2012 2:34am PST

The Explorers Club Celebrates China's Role in Exploration : The world's pre-eminent exploration organization, The Explorers Club was founded in New York in 1904 celebrates China's role in exploration. Some of the World's greatest explorers gathered at 108 year old club's dinner conference at Capital Club, Beijing, Chao Yang District. China.

In attendance was President of Explorers Club Alan Nichols, an authority on Emperor Chinggis Qa'an explained plans to study the last days of Genghis Khan (Chinggis Qa'an) founder of the world's largest empire in history and Mongolia's most revered figure.

The Explorers Club hosts fifteen-year NASA veteran Astronaut Leroy Chiao, Ph.D. He most recently served as Commander and NASA Science Officer of Expedition 10 abroad the International Space Station. He has logged over 229 days in space over 36 hours of which were spent in Extra Vehicular activity (EVA, or Space walks). Dr. Chiao spoke about the cooperation among nations for space explorations.

The Explorers Club Celebrates China's Role in Exploration

The world's pre-eminent exploration organization, The Explorers Club w ...

Updated: Sep 26, 2012 2:48am PST

ARTIST IN DEATH THREAT TROUBLE FOR ‘BLASPHEMY’ : Text by: Sally Acharya
Photos by: Thomas L. Kelly

Paintings of a goddess in a miniskirt and a gun-toting god in a Superman cape prompted a charge of blasphemy and an alleged death threat against a young artist in Kathmandu, where police padlocked a gallery and hauled the artist and gallery director in front of authorities this week for “outrageous portrayals” of Hindu gods.

Artists charged that the action violated freedom of expression, while others called the paintings an insult to Hinduism. The clash highlights cultural fault lines in a fast-urbanizing country that until 2008 was a Hindu kingdom but is now a secular democracy where teens in Brittney Spears t-shirts check Facebook on cell phones outside temples filled with sari-clad worshipers.

Artist Manish Harijan, 27, painted Hindu and Buddhist deities in superhero attire, with one god brandishing a gun and another in a tussle with Captain America. The goddess Kali, a potent expression of time and change who typically appears as a half-naked fury with a garland of skulls, got a makeover as a mini-skirted Superwoman giving the viewer the finger.

To the artist, it was anger and power in modern dress, a translation of Hindu power symbols into modern global archetypes. The mix-and-match paintings intend to show the influence of Western culture on Eastern thought, said Harijan, who painted the series during a residency at the Kathmandu Contemporary Arts Centre in the temple-filled Himalayan capital.

Buddhist and Hindu images are pervasive in the city’s tourist quarter, where god-headed puppets dangle in shops, guesthouses are named for deities, and the eyes of Buddha, an iconic symbol of Kathmandu, are embroidered onto t-shirts and purses. Nepal even has an airline called Buddha Air.

But the depiction of gods as Pop Art icons, complete with a “Real Buddha” clutching a throwaway box of Real Juice, proved too much for activists of the World Hindu Federation (WHF). They didn’t see questions about modernity; they saw insult and mockery.

According to artists and gallery personnel, a group of young men who had been in and out of the gallery for days, taking pictures of the art, reappeared this week with retired army colonel Hem Bahadur Karki, president of the WHF.

“They began to shout, ‘We can shoot you. Also we can burn your paintings,” said gallery director Sangeeta Thapa.
Artist Jupiter Pradhan was at the gallery and tried to explain the art’s intended meanings. “I told them it’s not about what they thought. It’s not anti-Hindu; it is about cultural influence from the West. But they were so aggressive.”

Karki said he made no threats but was deeply offended by the art, no matter its purpose. “I had never been to that gallery. I did not like what I saw. The artist tried to explain this is fusion. I said, leave this fusion with you. People don’t digest these things.”

When the police arrived, “we thought they were coming to protect the artist,” said Thapa. Instead, the police sealed the gallery, and when Kathmandu’s Chief of Police and the Chief District Officer arrived later to see the art for themselves, they also saw it as mockery.

There’s a traditional time to lampoon serious subjects, the artist and director were told: the once-a-year festival of Gai Jatra, a day when parades of masked citizens can clown about anything. Legend says that it began to make a bereaved queen laugh in her grief, and on that day, anything goes. But on the walls of a gallery, tucked away in a posh labyrinth of cafes and boutiques frequented by expats and Kathmandu’s elite, the officials agreed that the art looked like an insult to the sensibilities of ordinary citizens.

After a day of closed-door negotiations and a rally by artists and supporters waving signs about freedom of expression, the gallery was reopened with caveats about showing offensive art. But artists fear the compromise about one exhibit, due to close soon anyway, leaves the broader question of freedom of expression in Nepal unanswered and a young painter unprotected and vulnerable.
Harijan is a dalit, a member of a community once known as untouchable. Discrimination is legally abolished and banning dalits from entering temples and drinking from common wells is now against the law in Nepal, but the irony of a dalit being accused of blasphemy for paintings that arguably tread on religious toes was not lost on the artist’s supporters.

The website of the Nepal-based World Hindu Federation says it is devoted not only to promoting affinities between Hinduism, Buddhism and related faiths, but in eradicating discriminatory social customs. Karki, its president, says the group never threatened violence and not all of the complaints came from his group, but from an independent party who was also offended. However, he says, the artist and gallery owner are treading on risky ground when they show inflammatory art. “If they depict such things, we will do more severe things than this.”

Lok Chitrekar, a traditional artist whose paintings follow ancient prescriptions, worries that activists are on the wrong track. “As a traditional artist, I follow all the rules implied by religious texts … but Manish’s work is an artifact, a contemporary form where he wanted to show the impact of Western on Eastern way of life by connecting Eastern Gods with superheroes. If it has hurt Hindu believers, then there should be a wise discussion. Threatening an artist’s life and shutting down an art gallery is no answer.”
Meanwhile, artists have begun another response: a group called Let’s Censor Art, whose Facebook page is filled with examples of the ancient erotic art carved on the struts of Kathmandu’s temples. The artists are photo-shopping them to give the deities a more modest wardrobe.

ARTIST IN DEATH THREAT TROUBLE FOR ‘BLASPHEMY’

Text by: Sally Acharya Photos by: Thomas L. Kelly Paintings of a g ...

Updated: Sep 14, 2012 3:04am PST

Kudung of Kyabje Tenga Rinpoche : Kudung of Kyabje Tenga Rinpoche at Swayambhu, Kathmandu, Nepal. 23rd May, 2012.

The fire ritual was performed by the four lamas who Kyabje Tenga Rinpoche had requested specifically.
Their Eminences Tsike Chokling Rinpoche, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Tulku Damchoe Rinpoche and our Venerable Vajramaster Lama Tsultrim Rabten

For more information:
http://www.benchen.org/en/monastery-nepal/news/253-the-cremation-of-kyabje-tenga-rinpoche.html

Kudung of Kyabje Tenga Rinpoche

Kudung of Kyabje Tenga Rinpoche at Swayambhu, Kathmandu, Nepal. 23rd ...

Updated: May 23, 2012 9:29pm PST

Israeli Saves Turkish Climber : Israeli mountain climber Nadav Ben Yehuda saves Turkish climber, Aydin Irmak. He was a mere 250 meters away from the summit, when he found unconscious Aydin. Had he chosen to continue climbing, Ben-Yehuda would have been the youngest Israeli ever to make it to Everest’s summit.

With the recent turmoil between Israeli and Turkey, the noble act of Nadav Ben Yehuda is to be commended.
Kathmandu, Nepal.

Date: 22nd May, 2012

Israeli Saves Turkish Climber

Israeli mountain climber Nadav Ben Yehuda saves Turkish climber, Aydin ...

Updated: May 23, 2012 1:33am PST

Gudrun Kopp Visits Nepal : The Parliamentary State Secretary to the German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Mrs. Gudrun Kopp visited Nepal from March 4 to 7, 2012.

The main purpose of her visit was the exchange of views on the peace and constitution drafting process in Nepal. She met with Prime Minister Bhattarai, Finance Minister Pun, Peace and Reconstruction Minister Pahadi, and representatives of human rights organizations.

Germany has pledged a financial assistance of 10 million euro, about Rs 1.06 billion, to Nepal for implementation of health sector reforms.

Germany is the fourth biggest bilateral donor in development cooperation with Nepal. Germany has pledged a total of 32.7 million euros to Nepal for development cooperation in the period from 2010 to 2011.

Gudrun Kopp Visits Nepal

The Parliamentary State Secretary to the German Minister for Economic ...

Updated: Mar 26, 2012 2:38am PST

Hinduism Today- Kalachakra: Pilgrimage of Faith- Article :

Hinduism Today- Kalachakra: Pilgrimage of Faith- Article

Updated: Feb 21, 2012 8:43pm PST

Water Scarcity Hits Kathmandu :

Water Scarcity Hits Kathmandu

Updated: Mar 15, 2012 2:06am PST

Peace Corps Returns to Nepal-2012 : The Ambassador of the United States of Amercia Scott H. Delsi invited Mr.Steve LeClerq for A SPECIAL CEREMONY TO MARK THE RE-LAUNCH OF PEACE CORPS IN NEPAL ON Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at Kamala Kunj, Kamaladi.

The Peace Corps will resume its volunteer service in Nepal from September. The Peace Corps had begun its mission in Nepal in 1962 and deputed the first batch of 100 volunteers in education and agriculture assignments. But deteriorating security during Maoist insurgency forced to reduce its campaign in 2000 and 2002. the programme was officially suspended on September 13, 2004. Peace Corps programmes have contributed in the areas of small business, education, environment, youth development, health and HIV awareness in Nepal.

Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has urged Peace Corps to contribute in the education sector in far-flung area of Nepal.

Peace Corps Returns to Nepal-2012

The Ambassador of the United States of Amercia Scott H. Delsi invited ...

Updated: Jan 17, 2012 10:19pm PST

Ninja Miners of Mongolia : Like many in rural Mongolia, Chogtsol is a herder, but in the distance the ninjas are visible -- the thousands who scavenge old mines panning for gold, named for the green pans they wear on their backs that make them resemble the cartoon "Ninja Turtles". For the ninjas, the income earned from the specks of gold clawed from the river bed is a key social safety net in the vast Central Asian country where more than one in three live below the poverty line. But the environmental impact on Mongolia's fragile grasslands is putting them in direct conflict with herders, who rely on the pastureland to graze their animals and for whom the country's rivers are an essential source of sustenance.

GOLD RUSH
Most of the sites where the ninjas work were once legal mines, but inefficient practices mean that often only 60-70 percent of an area's mineral wealth is extracted before the companies move on. That's when the ninjas move in. Estimates of how many Mongolians are involved in the small-scale mining of placer sites -- open-pit mines where minerals can be extracted without tunneling or blasting -- range from 30,000 to up to 100,000.

Ninja Miners of Mongolia

Like many in rural Mongolia, Chogtsol is a herder, but in the distance ...

Updated: Jan 04, 2012 8:34pm PST

FORD - Figo: Discover Smart Drive-2011

Go Ford Showroom Thapathali, Kathmandu, Nepal. http://www.ford.com. ...

Updated: Dec 22, 2011 10:09pm PST

Nepal Bandha-2011 : Nepali Congress called Nepal bandha against the death of Tarun Dal Chitwan Chairman Shiva Paudel, on Monday, 19th December 2011.

Nepal Bandha-2011

Nepali Congress called Nepal bandha against the death of Tarun Dal Chi ...

Updated: Dec 19, 2011 10:04pm PST

Amchi Conference: Producing Efficacious Medicine-2011 : Amchi Conference: Producing Efficacious Medicine
5th- 12th December, 2011

8 daylong workshop programme on “Making Efficacious Medicines” was hosted by THE HIMALAYAN AMCHI ASSOCIATION (HAA) at Shechen Monastery in Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal. The HAA was founded in 1998, also supported by Ministry of Health of Nepal and CTEVT.

Dr. Sienna Craig, (Dartmouth College), Calum Blaikie (University of Kent), Barbara Gerke (Humbolt University) and Theresia Hofer (University of Oslo) along with 12-15 Amchis, the Tibetan Doctors from Nepal, Tibet and Ladakh attended the workshop.

Day 1- Amchis shared their training experience, medical practices and expectations from workshop.
Day 2- Ven. Choekling Rinpoche hosted Wang, the medicine empowerment ritual.
Day 3- Discussion on medicines, ingredients and what medicine to make
Day 4-Herb market visit
Day 5-7- Complete pharmacy and medicine making. Blessing medicine.
Day 8 - Closing ceremony and certificate distribution.

Nepal remains the *only* country in the greater South, Central, and East Asian regions where Sowa Rigpa, the Tibetan "Science of Healing", is not officially recognized by the government is significant. Not only is it recognized now by India and of course also by China, but it is part of the national health care system in Bhutan and Mongolia. The place of Nepal in the past, present, and future of this form of indigenous knowledge and healing science is crucial, from many perspectives, and the lack of recognition for Sowa Rigpa in Nepal brings with it many paradoxes.

Nepal remains a major source of raw materials for much of the booming Tibetan medical industry in China (not to mention the Ayurveda industry in India), and yet increasingly strict governance structures and export regulations to China for medicinal plants threatens not only centuries old trade but also contemporary livelihoods and also helps to consolidate economic benefit from the production of industrial Tibetan medicines in China instead of in Nepal. Nepal is a regional leader in efforts at medicinal plant cultivation (even though much more work, energy, and resources are needed on this front). Yet at the same time, Nepal's long lineages of Sowa Rigpa practitioners find themselves often between a "rock and a hard place". They are the caretakers of a type of healing science that requires years of expertise in fields ranging from botany, zoology, and pharmacology to cultural geography and Buddhist philosophy yet they are socially and economically marginalized, which impacts their ability to make good medicines and also to help sustain and transform this tradition in a way that will allow future generations of Nepali practitioners of Sowa Rigpa to thrive, and to continue to treat patients in both urban and rural contexts. In these and other ways, the issue of Sowa Rigpa / Amchi medicine recognition in Nepal speaks to much larger regional issues and the politics of contemporary Nepal vis China and India, to be certain.

Amchi Conference: Producing Efficacious Medicine-2011

Amchi Conference: Producing Efficacious Medicine 5th- 12th December, ...

Updated: Mar 27, 2012 11:42pm PST

Kybaje Trulshik Rimpoche's Kudung-2011 : His Holiness Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche passed into parinirvana at the age 88, on 2nd September 2011, due to deteriorating health. His Kudung was performed at Dzarong Thupten Mindrol Dongag Chhyoling Monastery at Sitapaila in Kathmandu, Nepal.

His Holiness was one of the most accomplished modern masters of the Nyingma lineage. A lineage holder of many dharma lineages and a teacher of many of the present day Tibetan masters including the H.H. Dalai Lama, the 16th Karmapa Dilgo Khyentse, and Tulku Ugyen. He had also been involved in the recognition of the reincarnations of some well-known Rinpoches; Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse, amongst others. It is said that thirty of His Holiness previous incarnations have been in India, one of which was Ananda, the disciple of the Buddha who persuaded the Buddha to allow women to take ordination. Seventeen of his previous incarnations were in Tibet. His knowledge is said to be extensive in Vajrayana, Mahayana, and Hinayan Buddhis, He is seen as the highest Vajra Guru and the recognized reincarnation of Terton Dongal Lingpa and other major masters of Tibet and India.

It is believed that HH Trulshik Rinpoche will re-incarnate in another 3 years.

Kybaje Trulshik Rimpoche's Kudung-2011

His Holiness Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche passed into parinirvana at the a ...

Updated: Oct 30, 2011 9:11pm PST

World AIDS Day- 2009 : World AIDS day celebrated in Dhangadi, Nepal.
Year-2009.

World AIDS Day- 2009

World AIDS day celebrated in Dhangadi, Nepal. Year-2009.

Updated: Feb 09, 2011 11:54pm PST

Community Home Based Care (CHBC) : Meet members of FHI Nepal's community and home-based care team who travel the rugged, rural landscape to reach people living with HIV.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlVUlhdF-e4

With nearly 70,000 people living with HIV in Nepal, community and home-based care is vitally important to ensuring that all have access to care and defense against stigma and discrimination. This review details a national assessment of service models of community and home-based care across Nepal. The goal of the assessment is to use the findings and recommendations to guide future implementation and scale-up of community and home-based care services in areas of need.
(Visit: http://www.fhi.org)

Community Home Based Care (CHBC)

Meet members of FHI Nepal's community and home-based care team who tra ...

Updated: Feb 01, 2011 9:32pm PST

CNN Hero of the Year 2010 : Anuradha Koirala, proclaimed winner of CNN Hero of the Year 2010, warmly greeted upon her return.
Tribhuwan International Airport, Kathmandu, Nepal.

A woman whose group has rescued more than 12,000 women and girls from sex slavery has been named the 2010 CNN Hero of the Year. Anuradha Koirala was chosen by the public in an online poll that ran for eight weeks on CNN.com. “Human trafficking is a crime, a heinous crime, a shame to humanity,” Koirala said after being introduced as one of the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2010. “I ask everyone to join me to create a society free of trafficking. We need to do this for all our daughters.”

CNN Hero of the Year 2010

Anuradha Koirala, proclaimed winner of CNN Hero of the Year 2010, warm ...

Updated: Dec 02, 2010 9:40pm PST

Peace Rally- May 2010 : KATHMANDU, NEPAL: Thousands of people attended a peace gathering organized at Basantapur, Kathmandu on Friday (May-7-2010)

All people want restoration of peace in the country but not conflict and strikes. Nepalese have urged the parties to forge consensus and draft the statute on time. And people from all walks of life including industrialists, businessmen, artistes, lawyers, journalists, doctors, teachers, students, human rights activists and ordinary people attended the meet.

48 organizations including Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI), Nepal Chamber of Commerce, Professionals Alliance for Peace and Democracy (PAPAD) and Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) among others jointly organized the peace meet.

Stating that people want peace, the Maoist vice chairman Dr. Baburam Bhattarai had assured Nepalese that the Maoists' stir would be largely peaceful, however, the incidents of violence are widespread after the fourth day of strike.

Peace Rally- May 2010

KATHMANDU, NEPAL: Thousands of people attended a peace gathering organ ...

Updated: May 10, 2010 9:22pm PST

Nepalese Political Scenarios (2001-2011) : Looking back at a decade long political chaos in Nepal.

Nepalese Political Scenarios (2001-2011)

Looking back at a decade long political chaos in Nepal.

Updated: Oct 10, 2012 3:06am PST

Amazon Pollution : Pollution is a real threat to the Amazon. It threatens the people, the animals, and the life blood of the forest itself.

The Forest is the only thing that is saving the Amazon. The forest produces oxygen and cleanses the air of carbon dioxide that is produced by factories and other carbon dioxide producing facilities. The forest suffers from many pollutants. Certain pollutants, such as ones used in textile mills, are able to destroy vegetation. Near textile mills, vegetation is limited and hardly even weeds are able to grow.
The indigenous people of the Amazon is also the victims. There homes are being invaded and their lives are being destroyed due to factory emmisions and other pollutants. The pollutants are hazardous to their health and destructive to their minds for many of these pollutants can be carcinogenic and mentally harming.
The animals are greatly affected by the pollution caused by various sources. Animals species unknown to humans are becoming extinct because they live in delicate balance with the envornment. When the environment is altered, even in miniscule amounts, animals species cannot survive.

The animals have shown dramatic response to pollutants. Traces of certain pollutants, such as one fertilizers that are beginning to be used on slash and burn farms, are beginning to show up in animals cells.

Amazon Pollution

Pollution is a real threat to the Amazon. It threatens the people, the ...

Updated: Jan 12, 2012 8:09pm PST

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