Druk Amitabha Mountain is located in Sitapaila, within the provincial district of Bagmati. It is within walking distance from Swayambhunath Stupa. Swayambhunath is located on a hill to the west of Kathmandu. Together with Namo Buddha and Boudhanath Stupa, these three are regarded as the three holy stupas, mentioned in the Buddhist script.
If you want to visit Druk Amitabha Mountain, you can get there from Swayambhunath Stupa by way of:
1. Trekking - takes about 30-40 minutes
2. Jeep - takes about 15 minutes, a vehicle with 4-wheel drive capacity is recommended. Rental of a jeep is around US$70-90 per day and a trip up or down the mountain will cost you around US$30-40 each trip.
A Brief Introduction on Druk Amitabha Mountain
Druk Amitabha Mountain was initially dedicated to Amitabha Buddha. His Holiness the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa had first wanted to build only a statue, according to the wish of his mother. The original plan was to build a two-storey high Amitabha statue on the site of the current Bairo Ling Monastery in Boudhanath. This land was originally bought to set up a family residence in the early 80's, but His Holiness's mother had seen many insects killed there when excavation work was taking place, therefore she dedicated this land to be used for a beneficial purpose for others, so that the millions of insects killed there would be directly or indirectly liberated.
Later on due to objection from the Aviation Department, the Amitabha statue was not permitted to be constructed in Boudhanath. This was what His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa spoke about how he found the present site of Druk Amitabha Mountain:
"It took us a few years to find a place that had all the right geomancy. I had viewed the spot from the Kathmandu valley many times and thought it could be the right place, but everybody said that there was no such land available and no road access, and furthermore, was very far from the city, among other considerations. One evening, I saw from my residence a sharp light coming out of the mountain and it provoked me to go and visit that mountain. The next morning, I went up onto that point, and met none other than our Venerable Khenpo Shedrub as a pleasant surprise. He was also there to see if there was an appropriate site for Amitabha.
We found out that the spot was perfect as far as the geomancy was concerned, but the land that was available then was too small. I did not really worry about it, because I thought that if it was meant to happen, despite any of the circumstances, we would eventually be able to break through all the difficulties. To cut a long story short, we decided to build the statue there. We were very blessed by our Gurus and all the divine spirits to have found this great site for the project."
Eventually the site for the Amitabha statue evolved into what it is today - the Druk Amitabha Mountain, a center for spiritual practice and for humanitarian causes, with a three-storied clinic under construction, a full-fledged retreat center, a well-equipped library, an administration office for the Drukpa Lineage, residential blocks for nuns, area for livestock saved from butchers in the Kathmandu valley and land for cultivating agricultural food crop to subsidize food expenses on the mountain. While the statue which has been completed two years' ago has yet been moved to the present site due to many reasons, there may even be a change in the original plan of putting an Amitabha statue on the top of the mountain, the blessings through the spiritual activities being conducted there under the guidance of His Holiness have definitely transformed Druk Amitabha Mountain into a pure land of its own beauty and reverence.
Current State
Presently, Druk Amitabha Mountain is the home of Druk Gawa Khilwa Nunnery, where approximately 200 nuns reside and practice. Everyday, they wake up at 3am and finish their day at about 11pm. The youngest nun is about 9 years' old and the oldest, about 60 years' old. They come from remote places in Tibet, Ladakh, Lahaul, Bhutan and Sikkim.
Druk Amitabha Mountain is managed actively by nuns. They now run a coffee shop, a souvenir shop and eventually a guesthouse with about 27 rooms. The nuns all wish to be financially independent so that His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa can use resources presently dedicated for Druk Amitabha Mountain for his other benevolent activities.
For more information about Druk Gawa Khilwa Nunnery, on Druk Amitabha Mountain, Kathmandu, Nepal, please visit their official website: http://www.drukpa-nuns.org
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