Kushalnagar: After being closed for over 700 days, the Namdroling Nyingmapa Monastery or the Golden Temple at Bylakuppe will open for visitors from Mar. 3. The Temple was shut ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began and it was out of bounds for visitors till now. In a communication yesterday, the Administrative Office of Namdroling Monastery has stated that since the infection rate is declining at a rapid pace with very little severity now, a decision has been taken to open the Golden Temple.

“All monks and nuns above the age of 15 in our monastery have received two doses of vaccination, while the old aged monastics and frontliners have received their booster shots as well. Keeping this positive progress in view and under the kind direction of the Two Tulkus, the Chief of Namdroling Monastery, and the Three Khenchens, the main gate of the monastery will open for the public starting from Mar. 3,” the communication read.

However, if COVID situation starts to become serious and the number of cases increases again in the coming days, then the main gate will once again be closed, it added. All the visitors have been strictly told to adhere to all pandemic protocols.

Incidentally, the Tibetan New Year begins from the first week of March and hundreds of monks and other spiritual leaders from other parts of the country, Nepal and Tibet are expected to land in Bylakuppe as part of the celebrations and this opening of the Golden Temple will facilitate them.

Utilising the pandemic-induced closure, the Monastery and its surrounding campus have been painted. Remarkably, not a single labour from outside was used and all the works were done by monk superiors, skilled volunteer monks and student monks. The three imposing statues — Sakyamuni Buddha or Gauthama Buddha flanked by Guru Padmasambhava to his right and Amitayus to the left — too have received fresh coats of paint and are shining to their fullest glory.