Buddhist Education Project for children in need of the Kathmandu monasteries – two new buildings for two monasteries that house about 180 children in need
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Nyanang Phelgyeling Monastery Family Project, Kathmandu: safe accommodation for 70 young guests!
Nyanang Phelgyeling Monastery was founded in Tibet in 1689 by the 5th Dalai Lama, near one of Milarepa’s hermitages. In 1959 a group of monks reached Nepal, bringing with them ancient and venerated sacred objects. In 1970 the Monastery was re-established in Nepal near Swayambunath Stupa, one of the most important sacred sites of Kathmandu.
Unfortunately, the main building, built 50 years ago, suffered damage in the 2015 earthquake: the walls and ceilings are crisscrossed by deep cracks that are opening wider over time. It rains into the classrooms and in the monks’ rooms making them unusable. The small kitchen is very old and unhygienic, and the dining hall is in a poor condition and too small for all the monks.
Nyanang Phelgyeling, like Sed Gyued, despite economic and logistical difficulties, also generously took in many children, who had been left without a family after the earthquake or whose families were no longer able to take care of them.
Many new requests for hospitality for young children unfortunately continue to arrive, also as a result of the economic emergency caused by Covid, and today there are about 70 young guests.
They receive accommodation, food, clothes, medical care and education within the Monastery, also following the government curriculum of studies so that they will be able to leave the Monastery one day if they wish.
The seriously unsafe building in which the monks were housed prompted the Monastery to ask the Foundation for help with a complete reconstruction: an architectural and structural design with earthquake-proof foundations was drawn up by a Kathmandu-based firm.
The project includes a new kitchen and dining hall capable of accommodating all the monks on the ground floor, and rooms for the small monks upstairs.
To everyone’s great joy, the Project submitted to the 8×1000 Italian Buddhist Union was approved in 2020!
The 8×1000 Italian Buddhist Union contributes 70% of the total costs: the remaining 30% is borne by the Foundation. Due to bureaucratic difficulties, work only started in 2022: as of today (October 2022), the unsafe building has finally been completely demolished, and excavations for the foundations have begun. The work is expected to be completed in about nine months.
WORK UPDATES
Completion of the works – June 2026
Work on the new building progressed rapidly until the end of 2023, giving us hope for a swift finish. Unfortunately, in 2024, the construction company significantly reduced its presence on site, despite our continuous efforts and reminders – and, above all, those of the Monastery, which has had to make do with makeshift arrangements for the dormitories and kitchens over the past few years. It was not until around mid-2025 that we finally managed to get the engineers and a full team of workers back on site.
In the meantime, however, there was at least one positive aspect for the project: the value of the Nepalese rupee has gradually fallen significantly against the euro, dropping from an average rate of 120–125 rupees to the euro at the start of the project to 140–150 during 2025, and reaching as high as 160–170 rupees and above in recent months and up to the present day…
Whilst this is indeed a cause for concern for the country’s fragile economy, it has at least enabled us to have significant savings on the costs estimated in the initial budget.
In mid-2025, we therefore proposed to the Monastery that we review together the three-storey design which we had been forced to reject in 2022 – although it was naturally preferred by the Monastery due to the possibility of having more space for dormitories – as it was ‘over budget’ compared to the two-storey design that had been submitted and approved by 8×1000 Italian Buddhist Union.
To keep within budget, the third floor was scaled back slightly, with plans to incorporate a terrace covering part of the floor area.
The new building therefore has three floors rather than two with a usable floor area of approximately 469 square metres compared to the 354 square metres originally planned! (Ground Floor: 174 square metres; First Floor: 180 square metres; third floor: 115 square metres). This was a cause for great joy for the Monastery, as it will enable them to accommodate the young monks in considerably more spacious quarters. They now have 13 new rooms and 6 beautiful bathrooms, complete with showers!
Meanwhile, the furniture for the rooms – which the Monastery had commissioned from local carpenters – has also been completed: beds, wardrobes, study desks and chairs.
The new kitchen, which replaces the previous small, unsafe and unhygienic one, has also been fully fitted with new appliances, furniture and equipment and is finally up and running!
The same goes for the dining hall on the ground floor, which is now fully operational and equipped with tables, chairs, cupboards and drawers.
A huge thank you to 8×1000 Italian Buddhist Union; to all our friends who donated to the project; and to those who have allocated their 5×1000 to Fondazione Lama Gangchen Help in Action or their 8×1000 to UBI!
