Preparations are under way in Bodh Gaya for the 27^th Kagyu Monlam

December 8, 2009, report by Jo Gibson, photos taken by Chogyi Gyatso

 

Constructing the arena for the New Year’s Day performance

It’s 9 o’clock in the morning and already the bulldozer is in operation, pushing great piles of earth in front of it. Brightly clad women cross the dry earth balancing baskets of earth on their heads and men wield pickaxes to clear away rocks and stones. This construction site, bounded by a brick wall, is where His Holiness Karmapa’s rendering of the Milarepa namthar (sacred biography) will be performed by the Tibetan Institute for Performing Arts on New Year’s Day 2010.  The finished arena will provide seating for more than 5000 people and is on the site of the future Kagyu Monlam Organisation offices and accommodation buildings.

Gelongs will be seated in the wings either side above the stage and the stage itself will be on two levels: the actors performing on the lower-level apron stage at the front and a choir of monks and nuns behind on the upper level stage.

Work on the site continues well into the evening, lit by a single, small floodlight and the  head lights of the trucks and earth-moving equipment.
 

 

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Webcasting the 27th Kagyu Monlam

Mr Tenzin Norbu, an Internet engineer from Dharamsala, North India, has installed an extensive dedicated network of  fibre-optic cable capable of transmitting an Internet connection of 2Mbps to ensure a high-quality webcast this year.  The network of cables stretches from the Airtel server in Bodhgaya  to the Mahabodhi Stupa, runs 4km out to Tergar Monastery where His Holiness the Karmapa will give pre-Monlam teachings to foreign students, and  also includes the Kalachakra Ground in central Bodhgaya in preparation for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings in January 2010.

Gyalwang Karmapa’s  teachings to foreign students will be webcast on 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd December.

All the events of Kagyu Monlam at the Mahabodhi Stupa will be webcast from 24^th - 31^st December.

The Milarepa Namthar dramatic performance will be webcast on 1^st January, 2010.

More detailed information will be available later.