 Recently
Rumtek Monastery has been in the centre of controversy after the fourteen-year-old
Rimpochi who is designated as the 17th Karmapa of the monastery crossed over from Tibet to
India and took shelter with the Dalai Lama in Dharmshala. The question of giving him
asylum in India has not yet been settled. The crux of the issue is the disagreement
between the senior Lamas of Rumtek Monastery as to who is the real successor to the
sixteenth Karmapa. One group had identified a child in Tibet as the genuine successor to
the 16th Karmapa but the other group has selected a child from Himachal, who is currently
being educated at Delhi, as the real reincarnation of the sixteenth Karmapa. In the midst
of all this succession-confusion, the fourteen-year-old Rimpochi has escaped from Tibet
under the nose of the Chinese government. The tradition is that once the Karmapa is found
he has to go through a rigorous test of basic Buddhist techniques of meditation and
teaching connected with the Kangyur training.
During the general election of 1999, I was
an election observer for Sikkim. While there, I had the unique opportunity to observe its
Buddhist culture very closely. I also found that Tibetan Buddhism has evolved quite
uniquely compared to the Buddhism as found in other parts of the world. There is a lot of
emphasis on tantra, as well as reincarnation of Masters (which very well corraborates to
the Jataka stories of Buddha). I also took some time off to visit the Rumtek Monastery.
Situated very close to Gangtok, the Rumtek monastery was built by the 4th Chogyal and has
been recently renovated. During 1958 when China took over Tibet and the Dalai lama took
asylum in India, the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, the Head of the Kangyur order in Sikkim also
escaped to Sikkim. When he came to Sikkim, then Chogyal, the king of Sikkim invited him to
stay in Sikkim.
From then on he lived in the monastery and
supervised the work of its renovation. He was also responsible for completion of the
majestic 'Rumtek Dharma Chakra Centre'. Although the Centre is relatively new and was
built only in 1960, it draws many pilgrims and visitors from the Buddhist world. It
conducts advance courses in Buddhism learning. It is the seat of Kangyur order of Tibetan
Buddhism. When the 16th Karamapa escaped from Tibet he was accompanied by a large
entourage of devotees and monks. They brought along with them treasures of Tibetan
heritage like thankas, holy books, scriptures, manuscripts, xylographs, antique articles
of worship, etc., whatever they could physically carry.
It was mentioned to me by the Lamas at the
Rumtek Monastery that after taking over Tibet, the Chinese soldiers mindlessly burnt the
great treasures of the Buddhist tradition including libraries of manuscripts and
Xylographs, paintings, sculptures and tankhas, rare and ancient ritualistic objects and
instruments. The articles made of gold & silver and studded with the precious stones
were broken and melted to take the metal and the gems. The plunder of Tibet can be termed
as the third deplorable episode in the history of mankind when the accumulated treasures
of the human knowledge were destroyed. The other two sad examples are the destruction of
the great library at Alexandria in Egypt and the destruction of the Buddhist University
and its priceless library at Nalanda in India, by the Muslim fundamentalists. The
destruction of Alexanderia and Nalanda have occurred thousands of years ago but to think
that the rape of Tibet occurred in our times makes one distressed at the tremendous loss
of human heritage which could have been prevented. It was reported to me that 95% of all
monastries and their arti-facts were destroyed and more than 2000 monks were killed.
In these circumstances whatever has been
salvaged and brought to Sikkim and the Dharamshala from Tibet by the escaping monks is of
great importance to the entire world. The Dharma Chakra Centre at Rumtek was built by the
16th Karmapa as a replica of the Kangyur Headquarters in Surphu in Tibet. It is a treasure
house of Buddhist Art and Technology. Along with Karmapa the four Tulkus of the order
Shamar Rimpoche, Situ Rimpoche, Gyalsep Rimpoche and Jamgey Rimpoche also fled to Sikkim.
After the death of the 16th Karmapa these four have been in charge of the Gyalwa Chakra
Centre. For the identification of the 17th Karamapa, the detail of his birth and signs to
recognise him have been left by the 16th Karmapa. Unfortunately there has been a dispute
between the senior monks, and two different successors have been identified. One of whom
has just escaped from the Chinese occupied Tibet. A solution will have to be found and
finally, who knows, both the reincarnates may jointly manage the monastery as they grow
up.
The Rumtek Monastery is also very famous
for its 'Cham Festival'. The Cham is held in all the Buddhist monasteries, normally in the
month of December and in the Rumtek Monastery on the fifth month of the Tibetan Calendar.
It is the festival of dance held for two to three days. Mask dances are performed by the
Lamas during the festivals. The stories from the life of Buddha & Guru Rimpochi and
the demons are depicted in the form of a dance. The dance symbolises the defeat of the
demons from the Guru Rimpoche, the victory of good over evil.
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