The COVID-19 pandemic left his business upended but at the same time, perhaps, more importantly, it rekindled his spirit of volunteerism. Shifting focus from minting money to social service, a 47-year-old businessman in Monggar is whitewashing old stupas in the district and rewriting the mantras on them. He calls the task his ‘latest passion’ in the ‘new normal.’
Ever since the lifting of the second nationwide lockdown, earlier this year, Yeshi Nidup from Minjey in Lhuentse has been spending most of his time doing the social service. He first whitewashes the stupas that have remained unattended for ages and then rewrites the mantras that had long faded. Yeshi has managed to work upon five stupas so far.
“Most mantras written or inscribed on old stupas are disappearing. We hardly see people trying to revive them. So, having studied the art, I am rewriting the mantras,” said Yeshi Nidup.
Happy with what he is doing with his life today, Yeshi further aspires to whitewash stupas across the country that have become old and require maintenance. And to save time and labour, he is also planning to get a loan and buy a machine to carve mantras on stones and marble slabs.
“In the past, people used to carve mantras on stones manually. But these days, there are machines to do the job. If I get a loan to buy such a machine, I can carve mantras on stones and marbles and promote them,” he added.
For now, the 47-year-old is managing with whatever resources at his disposal. The job may be laborious but slowly his newfound passion is leaving one of Bhutan’s cultural heritage radiating, and restored to its former glory.
Sonam Tshering, Monggar
