The Tibetan Monastery or the Tibet Camp as locally
called is located around 6 kms from Kushalnagar town towards Mysore. This
Tibetan settlement at Bailkoppa or Baylkuppe is the the second largest Tibetan
settlement outside Tibet.
There are over 7,000 monks and students at the Tibetan monastery.
After
the Chinese took over Tibet, the refugees were settled at Bylkuppe near
Kushalnagar and the Buddhist Monastery was re-established here in 1972. It
houses over 7,000 monks and students today. The monastery not only attracts
large number of young Tibetans seeking enlightenment and education, but also
draws huge tourists from all over India and abroad.
Bylakuppe Tibetan settlement consists of a number of small
camps close to each other, and has a lot of monasteries, nunneries. Most famous
among them are the large educational institution Sera, the smaller Tashilunpo
monastery and Namdroling monastery.
The 40 ft tall golden Buddha statues are the major
attractions of Bailkoppa. The statues of Buddha, Padmasambhava, and Amitayus
are the notable ones. The walls of the temples and the institutions are
decorated with colorful paintings depicting gods and demons from Tibetan
Buddhist mythology. The altar is decorated with flowers, candles and incense
sticks.
