Kathmandu:
About a dozen nuns performed hand chops and high kicks, some wielding swords, as they showed off their martial arts skills to hundreds of cheering well-wishers on the long-awaited reopening of their nursery in Nepal. Showed
Nuns at the hilltop Drouk Amitabh Monastery put on a show of strength to mark its reopening five years after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the institution to close its doors to the public.
The group of Kung Fu nuns, who range in age from 17 to 30, are members of the 1,000-year-old Drukpa lineage, which gives nuns the same status as monks and is the only female order in the patriarchal Buddhist monastic system.
Nuns are generally expected to cook and clean and are not allowed to practice any form of martial arts. But His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa, a monk just below the Dalai Lama in the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy, decided to train women in kung fu to improve their health and spiritual well-being. He opened the seminary in 2009 and now has 300 members aged between six and 54.
“We do kung fu to keep ourselves mentally and physically fit, and our goal is to empower women and promote gender equality,” said Jagme Jungchub Chosden, a 23-year-old nun originally from Ladakh, India. said
The nuns come from Bhutan, India and Nepal and are all trained in kung fu, a Chinese martial art for self-defense and strength.
“With confidence in kung fu, I really want to help the community, to empower young girls,” said Jagme Yangchen Gamo, 24, a nun from Ramechup in Nepal.
The nursery’s website says the combination of gender equality, physical strength and respect for all living things represents a return to the order’s “true spiritual roots”.
In the past, the nuns have completed long treks on foot and by bike in the Himalayas to raise money for disaster relief, as well as to promote eco-friendly living. Reuters