A Tibetan Buddhist nun with a prayer wheel in Larung Gar, one of the largest Buddhist academic centres in the world, situated in Serthar, Eastern Tibet. The centre was founded in 1980, by Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok. The centre has attracted thousands of Tibetan and Han Chinese Buddhists to study Tibetan Buddhism.
A view of debris left behind after the destruction of monastic dwellings in Larung Gar. The Chinese authorities have heightened surveillance at both Larung gar and Yachen gar and local towns, including new mobile police stations since July 2016. The on-going wide-scale demolition and destruction of Larung Gar, world’s largest Buddhist academy indicates the height of religious repression in Tibet.
Part of monastic dwellings in Larung Gar razed to the ground. Monks and nuns are forcibly evicted. Saddened by the Chinese government’s destructive action, three nuns of the centre – Rigzin Dolma, Tsering Dolma and Semgha committed suicide and left notes referring to the demolitions and Government “harassment.”
A Tibetan Buddhist nun walking amidst the dismantled dwellings in Larung gar. China claims Larung Gar and Yachen Gar are overcrowded, but the real motive behind the demolitions are to transform world-famous Buddhist institutes into a tourist destination and to further dilute the authentic Tibetan Buddhist learning center.
An elderly Buddhist nun walking as the workers dismantling dwellings in Larung Gar. In June 2016, Chinese authorities began the demolitions of Larung Gar as a part of a multi-year plan aiming to downsize the academy by 50 percent and evict at least half of its more than 20,000 residents.