200 Buddhist
monks, nuns killed in Nepal quake
Friday, 22 May 2015 - 2:48pm
IST | Agency: PTI
A total of 150 Buddhist monasteries collapsed
in Gorkha, 105 in Dhading, 60 in Rasuwa and 60 in Solukhumbu.
Around 200
Buddhist monks and
nuns have been killed as some 1,000 monasteries collapsed
due to the April 25 earthquake and subsequent aftershocks in Nepal,
authorities said.
Buddhist Philosophy
Promotion and Monastery Development Committee (BPPMDC), under the
Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, said that all
215 monasteries in Sindhupalchok district were flattened due
to impact of the earthquake. A total of 150 Buddhist
monasteries collapsed in Gorkha, 105 in Dhading, 60 in Rasuwa
and 60 in Solukhumbu.
Monasteries also
collapsed in Nuwakot, Dolakha, Ramechhap, Okhaldhunga, Makwanpur,
Lamjung and Syangja districts as well.
Some well-known monasteries include
Seto Gumba in Ramkot; Rato Gumba in Sitapaila, both located in the
outskirt of Kathmandu; Khumchey Gumba in Gorkha;
Chrighyang Gumba in Dolakha and Chirite Gumba in
Sindhupalchok. Around 200 monks and nuns killed as monasteries
collapsed.
Karma
Tsering Tashi Lama, president of the BPPMDC, who recently visited
many of the earthquake-hit areas in Sindhupalchok and Rasuwa, said
he did not see a single monastery that stands intact. "The
monasteries we visited had either fallen or were on the verge
of collapse," said Lama.
The
Buddhist committee said it has deployed teams to collect the
details of destruction in coordination with the local
authorities.