Bhot Bagan Moth popularly known as Mahakal Math is a Tibetan Buddhist Temple located at Ghusuri, Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the first Tibetan Buddhist Temple in the plains of India. [1] [2] The Moth is a unique monastery with rare combination of Shaiva and Tibetan Buddhist culture. [3]
The third Panchen Lama wanted to restore the connections between Tibet and India, he asked English representative George Bogle to make arrangements. Bogle reported the issue to the then Governor General of Bengal Warren Hastings. Hastings donated huge lands to Puran Giri (1743–1795), the representative of Panchen Lama and the Moth was founded in 1776. [4] Puran Giri, the famous Dashnami Saint later worshipped Shaivas, Hindu Buddhist mixed religious rituals in the Moth. [5] In 1795, Moth was attacked by armed dacoit and Puran Giri was killed to resist them. Since 1905, the Moth became abandoned and presently the Moth complex is under the supervision of the West Bengal Heritage Commission. [6] The Moth complex includes number of brick built dilapidated temples and Vaishnava Mahanta Graveyard. [7]
Media related to Bhot Bagan Math at Wikimedia Commons
The Gelug is the newest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded by Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), a Tibetan philosopher, tantric yogi and lama and further expanded and developed by his disciples.
The Panchen Lama is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to the Dalai Lama. Along with the council of high lamas, he is in charge of seeking out the next Dalai Lama. Panchen is a portmanteau of Pandita and Chenpo, meaning "great scholar".
Tai Situpa is one of the oldest lineages of tulkus in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism In Tibetan Buddhism tradition, Kenting Tai Situpa is considered as emanation of Bodhisattva Maitreya and Guru Padmasambhava and who has been incarnated numerous times as Indian and Tibetan yogis since the time of the historical Buddha.
Kham is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions, the others being Domey also known as Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The official name of this Tibetan region/province is Dotoe. The original residents of Kham are called Khampas, and were governed locally by chieftains and monasteries. Kham covers a land area distributed in multiple province-level administrative divisions in present-day China, most of it in Tibet Autonomous Region and Sichuan, with smaller portions located within Qinghai and Yunnan.
The Jokhang, or the Ra sa 'phrul snang gtsug lag khang, or Qoikang Monastery, or Zuglagkang, is considered the "heart of Lhasa". The Jokhang consists of a Tibetan Buddhist temple, its temple complex, and a Gelug school monastery. Located in Barkhor Square, it was built in c.640 by King Songsten Gampo to house the Jowo Mikyo Dorje, a statue of Akshobhya Buddha, brought to Tibet by his Nepalese queen, Bhrikuti. Another statue, the Jowo Shakyamuni, brought by his Tang Chinese queen Wencheng, is currently housed in the temple and the Jowo Mikyo Dorje is housed in the Ramoche, in Lhasa.
Tashi Lhunpo Monastery is an historically and culturally important monastery in Shigatse, the second-largest city in Tibet. Founded in 1447 by the 1st Dalai Lama, it is the traditional monastic seat of the Panchen Lama.
Lobsang Palden Yeshe (1738–1780) was the sixth Panchen Lama of Tashilhunpo Monastery in Tibet. He was the elder stepbrother of the 10th Shamarpa, Mipam Chödrup Gyamtso (1742–1793).
George Bogle was a Scottish adventurer and diplomat, the first to establish diplomatic relations with Tibet and to attempt recognition by the Chinese Qing dynasty. His mission is still used today as a reference point in debates between China and Tibetan independence activists.
The Tibetan sovereignty debate concerns two political debates regarding the relationship between the Chinese state and Tibet. The first debate is about whether or not the various territories which are within the People's Republic of China (PRC) that are claimed as political Tibet should separate themselves from China and become a new sovereign state. Many of the points in this political debate rest on the points which are within the second debate, about whether Tibet was independent or subordinate to China during certain periods of its history.
Tibetan Buddhist architecture, in the cultural regions of the Tibetan people, has been highly influenced by Nepal, China and India. For example, the Buddhist prayer wheel, along with two dragons, can be seen on nearly every temple in Tibet. Many of the houses and monasteries are typically built on elevated, sunny sites facing the south. Rocks, wood, cement and earth are the primary building materials. Flat roofs are built to conserve heat and multiple windows are constructed to let in the sunlight. Due to frequent earthquakes, walls are usually sloped inward at 10 degrees.
The Golden Urn is a method introduced by the Qing dynasty of China in 1793 for selecting Tibetan reincarnations by drawing lots or tally sticks from a golden urn. After the Sino-Nepalese War, the Qianlong Emperor promulgated the 29-Article Ordinance for the More Effective Governing of Tibet, which included regulations on selecting lamas. The Golden Urn was ostensibly introduced to prevent cheating and corruption in the process but it also positioned the Qianlong Emperor as a religious authority capable of adducing incarnation candidates. A number of lamas, such as the 8th and 9th Panchen Lamas and the 10th Dalai Lama, were confirmed using the Golden Urn. In cases where the Golden Urn was not used, the amban was consulted. Lhamo Dhondup was exempted from the Golden Urn to become the 14th Dalai Lama in 1940.
The Tibetan diaspora are the diaspora of Tibetan people living outside Tibet.
There is a small Mongolian community in India, comprising mostly Buddhist monks and scholars as well as international students from Mongolia.
The Shigatse Dzong, also known as Samdruptse Dzong, is located in Shigatse, Tibet, China. It is spelt Rikaze Dzong.
Samuel Turner FRS was an English Asiatic traveller and a cousin of Warren Hastings, the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal).
Ghusuri is a locality of North Howrah in Howrah district of Indian state of West Bengal. It is under 170-Howrah Uttar and 25-Howrah. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Bhot Bagan Moth, Indian oldest Tibetan Buddhist monastery outside the Himalayas situated at Ghusuri.
Guangren Temple, also called Guangren Lama Temple, is a Buddhist temple located in Lianhu District of Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. It is the only Tibetan Buddhist temple in Shaanxi.
Puran Puri was an 18th-century sanyasi monk and traveller from India, who travelled from Central India to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Middle East, Moscow and Tibet. He was a Khatri or Rajput, born c.1742 in the city of Kannauj in what is now the modern-day state of Uttar Pradesh in India.
The High Road to China: George Bogle, the Panchen Lama and the First British Expedition to Tibet is a nonfiction book by Kate Teltscher, a historian and academician at the University of Roehampton.