Kalu Rinpoche Birthday Celebration

On September 17 we visited Kalu Rinpoche's monastery in Sonada, near Darjeeling. The occasion marked Rinpoche's 19th birthday and his successful completion of the three-year retreat at Bokar monastery.

Lama Tsang Tsing from Eugene, Oregon also attended and I caught a picture of him offering a kata to Rinpoche.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people attended this event; many of them local people who patiently waited outside held back by a phalanx of the larger monks. It was the longest line of people offering katas that I've ever seen. I could never have remained as patient as Rinpoche, accepting each kata and blessing the person offering it.

After a nice lunch which was delayed until about 2:30 due to the large kata line, we returned to Mirik, missing the cake cutting at 6:30 pm; but I did get a picture of some parts of the cake before we left. When constructed, the cake read, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY RINPOCHE".