Kala Rongo Monastery and Retreat Center
In 1990, a monastery and retreat center for nuns was established at Kala Rongo by Lama Norlha Rinpoche with funds donated by generous sponsors in the West. Nuns built the Kala Rongo Monastery, retreat facility and the six-mile road leading to the monastery by hand. Three hundred nuns, most of whom have completed the three-year retreat, are presently engaged in religious practice and study at Kala Rongo.
In 1999, Lama Norlha Rinpoche began planning and negotiations for the construction of a shedra (monastic college) at the monastery comparable to the college at Korche Monastery. Classes at the monastic college commenced in December 2001 when construction was completed. The nine-year program includes analysis of Buddhist scriptures and commentaries, as well as courses designed to help women acquire general business and math skills. Plans are continuing to establish a second retreat facility dedicated to the practices of the Shangpa Kagyu lineage which holds the transmission of the profound teachings of the two female mahasiddhas, Niguma and Sukkha Siddhi.
