Every year Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery hosts the annual Guru Rinpoche Bum Tsog (a hundred thousand offerings) for Guru Rinpoche, lasting for the whole day. The puja is held in the grounds of the nunnery, in front of a gigantic Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) thangka.

In 2017, the first year the festival was held, Lama Zopa Rinpoche attended the special puja along with the young incarnation of Trulshik Rinpoche, a great master in the Nyingma tradition, who is one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus. Also in attendance were Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi, the abbot of Kopan Monastery and it’s sister nunnery Khachoe Ghakyil Ling; Losang Namgyal Rinpoche, a Kopan monk who is also a high lama for the Tamang people of Nepal; and Rigsel Rinpoche, the young incarnation of the past Kopan abbot Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup.

Around a thousand ordained Sangha attended the event as well as many lay Tibetans and Nepalis During the day tea and snacks are offered several times to all participants.

The thangka, which is 75 feet (23 meters) high and 87 feet (27 meters) wide, is hung from a large scaffolding and depicts in stitched silk appliqué the Padmasambhava merit field in the center with the eight aspects of Padmasambhava on one side and Padmasambhava’s pure land on the other.

One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions Projects is for centers to have large thangkas and organize festival days around their display. As part of this project, Lama Zopa Rinpoche commissioned the Guru Rinpoche thangka in 2011; it took two years to create and was completed in 2013. His Holiness the Dalai Lama blessed the thangka in late 2013 while it was being displayed at Sera Je Monastery during the Jangchub Lamrim teachings.

Since then, many FPMT centers have commissioned large thangkas and are hosting festival days where these holy objects can be enjoyed.

Everyone is welcome to attend this annual Guru Rinpoche Bum Tsog puja.

Read more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Vision Projects here