Pemachoeding
Pema Choeding is a mother monastery for both the Bodong tradition and the Porong-ba people.
After galloping across the northern plain of Porong on horseback, we found the monks of Pema-Choeding laying cement in the central courtyard. Money sent home by exiled Porong-ba facilitates the work.
The former summer residence of the King of Porong and a nunnery lay in ruins nearby, reminding us of this province's more prosperous past.
The welcome we received at Pema-Choeding was perhaps the warmest we experienced in Tibet. The monks help was invaluable in ascertaining which rituals were distinctly Bodong-pa and which were common to other Buddhists traditions.
