WUNRN
Women's Feature Service
By Saadia Azim
Today, young
Bhutanese girls are choosing to become Buddhist nuns because nuns are equally
respected and sought after for their ability to provide spiritual guidance as
are the monks. (Credit: Saadia Azim\WFS).
Thimpu (Women's
Feature Service) – "Sargi Chodden is a spirited young nun, who runs
around this huge nunnery the whole day." That's how a smiling Sonam
Chogen, the head nun of the Zilukha nunnery, describes one of their newest
entrants.
It's been a month
since Sargi came into this Buddhist nunnery, located on a scenic hilltop in
Thimphu, the capital city of Bhutan, but she has not quite as yet adjusted to
the changes that have come about in her life following this move. For instance,
Sargi is not ready to cut her hair - a norm in the nunnery - and hence she is
forbidden to attend the daily prayers. So these days she spends her time
playing with other young nuns in the huge monastery complex.
Sargi is 13 years old
and the eldest of three siblings. Her father works in the police force. It was
her mother who convinced the teenager to join the nunnery saying that she would
have a better chance of getting a quality education there. According to her
mother, being in the nunnery would enable her "to finish her studies and
understand the world better". Of course, there was an added attraction:
Studying at the nunnery also creates a livelihood option - that of becoming a
well-respected 'anim' (sister).
But Sargi is taking
her time to get used to the ways of the nunnery and to understand what it means
to become a Buddhist nun. "Mentally I am now getting ready to become a
nun. I think that it would put an end to all my mother's miseries. I'll pray
that she does not worry over me anymore. Moreover, I will also be able to
support my family with my religious earnings," says the youngster.
Nine-year-old Yozer
Dema, too, decided to become a nun because she wanted "to do something for
her mother". Yozer thought that her "career" as a nun would not
just bring her "closer to God" but would also be a great livelihood
option. Yozer, who came to Zilukha nunnery from the East Bhutan hills, finds
"
Rinzin Wangmo's
parents were also prompted to send their six-year-old daughter to the Zilukha
nunnery because it would ensure a better quality of education for their child.
She may be the youngest nun here, but Rinzin is happy. She feels she is going
to be better off than most of her friends back home in the
Many girls and women
in
The Bhutanese are a
deeply religious people, with two-thirds of the population practicing Buddhism.
Vajrayana Buddhism is the national religion here. Interestingly, while the
country has a well-balanced sex ratio and there is no overt discrimination of
the girl child, it is the boys generally who had opted for the lucrative and
valued option of religious work and study. Many boys get sent to monasteries at
an early age. So far, women had shied away from becoming nuns. Today, however,
things are changing, with an increasing number of girls being sent to
nunneries.
There was a time when
the Drubthob Goemba, or the Zilukha nunnery as it is known, was only a safe
haven for distressed women. Becoming nuns was for them a way of turning their
backs on their difficult lives and seeking self-enlightenment. Today, what
seems to motivate many young girls to opt for this vocation is the chance it
gives them to acquire a good education and a better social status.
Chime P. Wangdi,
Secretary General of the Tarayana Centre, an NGO working with marginalised communities
in
Minju, a 19-year-old
nun, is happy that women like her now enjoy great respect within the country.
She believes that her life was without purpose until she started learning about
religion within the precincts of the Zilukha nunnery. Today it gives her great
contentment to teach religion to the young kids who come in every morning from
the neighbourhoods near Zilukha.
There are also a
growing number of people from outside
As Anim Ngwang Pal
puts it, "We are doing all this to ensure that the nuns and the nunnery
are a prime source of knowledge generation and education in our society. This,
we believe, is our duty."