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Celebrating 20 Years of Thiusar Magazine: A Blossoming Journey

The Beginning

Thiusar Magazine started as a heartfelt gesture of gratitude to Kasur Rinchen Khandro, whose leadership and guidance have been foundational to the Tibetan Nuns Project. In the early 2000s, nuns began writing small letters and prose, which they would leave on her desk. These heartfelt notes, filled with gratitude and personal reflections, caught her attention. Recognizing the potential in their writings, Kasur Rinchen Khandro encouraged the nuns to formalize their efforts and create a magazine. Thus, in 2002, Thiusaur Magazine was born.

Growing Together

Over the past two decades, Thiusar has evolved from a budding flower into a fully bloomed one. This transformation is beautifully captured in the 2024 magazine cover design, which features a youthful flower symbolizing the vibrancy and growth of the nuns. The magazine now reflects the incredible progress and blossoming talents of our community. What started as a small gesture has grown into a significant publication, celebrated for its quality and depth.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns holding copies of their magazine

Thiusaur means “budding flower” in Tibetan. When the Tibetan Nuns Project began most of the nuns were illiterate; now they write, edit, and publish their annual magazine in Tibetan. The yellow one is the first edition and the blue on the right is the most recent magazine. Photos by Robin Groth, 2024.

Diverse Voices

The pages of the magazine are filled with essays, articles, short stories, and poems, each piece a reflection of the unique experiences and creative outlet of the nuns. The magazine is distributed annually to every nunnery and various NGOs in India, and its reach and impact are widely appreciated. Thiusar offers a rare glimpse into the hearts and minds of Tibetan nuns, sharing their journeys and perspectives with the world. The diversity of topics and styles in the magazine underlines the varied thoughts and feelings that our nuns bring to their writing.

Embracing Change

Reflecting on the early days, Venerable Delek Yangdron, a dedicated member of the magazine committee, recalls the challenges of receiving handwritten submissions and painstakingly typing each one. Today, technology has revolutionized our process. Nuns now send their writings via email, making the editorial process smoother and more efficient. This shift has not only eased the workload but has also empowered the nuns, boosting their confidence in their technological and design skills.

Tibetan Buddhist nun working on computer.

Early days. Venerable Delek Yangdron, one of the Dolma Ling media nuns and a dedicated member of the magazine committee remembers receiving handwritten submissions and typing up each submission.

Adapting to digital tools has also opened up new possibilities for collaboration and creativity. Nuns can now work together on projects, share ideas more easily, and access more resources for inspiration. This technological advancement has brought a new dynamism to Thiusaur, enriching the content and making the production process more collaborative and inclusive.

Looking Forward

As we celebrate 20 years of Thiusar Magazine, we look forward to the future with great hope and excitement. The nuns are eager to continue contributing their voices and sharing their stories. The magazine’s journey from its humble beginnings to its current stature exemplifies their dedication and creativity.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns receiving computer training in 2013. The mission of the Tibetan Nuns Project is to educate and empower nuns of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition as teachers and leaders; and
to establish, strengthen, and support educational institutions to sustain Tibetan religion and culture. Photo by Harald Weichhart.

The celebration of Thiusar’s 20th anniversary is not just about looking back but also about coming together to acknowledge the collective effort that has made the magazine a success. We are immensely grateful to everyone who has contributed to Thiusar over the years — the writers, editors, designers, and supporters.

Behind the Camera: Showcasing Nuns’ Media Team Photos

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The Nuns’ Media Team at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute near Dharamsala in northern India is a special group of women. They tell stories through photos and stories matter.

Traditionally Tibetan Buddhist nuns have been a quiet and faint presence in the world. They have had little or no opportunity to tell their own stories or document their own lives. Now the nuns, through the Nuns’ Media Team, are increasingly able to share their own news and images.

In this blog, we’d like to showcase some of the photographs taken by the Nuns’ Media Team and tell you about an exciting new project to provide cameras to all 7 nunneries that we support.

Tibetan Nuns Project, Tibetan Buddhism, nuns, Nuns' Media Team, Dolma Ling Nunnery, Tibetans

The Nuns’ Media Team is able to capture intimate portraits like this one of two nuns reading Tibetan.

The nuns who form the Nuns’ Media Team initially received training from overseas volunteers. As they are empowered and gain in skills, they are also less reliant on non-Tibetan photographers.

Tibetan Nuns Project, Tibetan Buddhism, nuns, Nuns' Media Team, Dolma Ling Nunnery, Tibetans, tug of war

The Nuns’ Media Team captured this candid shot of a tug of war during celebrations of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birthday. It was a rare opportunity for the nuns to take a break from their studies and nunnery chores.

Now they are now passing on their knowledge to other nuns. Venerable Delek Yangdron, the supervisor of the Nuns’ Media Team, has trained several nuns in still and video photography, in interview techniques, and in cutting and editing footage to make videos. The nuns have already produced a series of videos on life at Dolma Ling, the Tibetan Nuns Project, and Shugsep Nunnery.

This atmospheric shot of nuns lighting butter lamps at Dolma Ling Nunnery was taken by the Nuns’ Media Team. Over time they have developed their skills in taking photographs in low-light conditions.

While we at the Tibetan Nuns Project are extremely grateful to the many photographers who have shared their images with us, we know that these volunteers can only visit the nunneries for short periods, and that they can never truly have the access and understanding that Tibetan Buddhist nuns themselves can have to nunnery life.

These smiling faces of nuns wearing knitted items donated by Wool-Aid were captured by the Nuns’ Media Team. The nuns are able to capture relaxed portraits like these.

One professional photographer said this about empowering diverse communities with cameras: “Indeed, the beauty behind documentary photography doesn’t reside in the taking of the images, but in the access and the depth with which you can document a phenomenon or a subject.”

The Nuns’ Media Team is in a unique position to document life at the nunnery. Here the nuns of Dolma Ling undertake the big task of cleaning the pond reservoir.

Currently the nuns write, edit, and publish their own annual magazine in Tibetan and also supply photographs for the annual Tibetan Nuns Project calendar that is an income earner for all of the nunneries. These are both achievements to be proud of given than so many nuns were illiterate on arrival in India.

Tibetan Nuns Project, Tibetan Buddhism, nuns, Nuns' Media Team, Dolma Ling Nunnery, Tibetans, prayer hall, Tibetan prayers, Dolma Ling Nunnery

Tibetan nuns are able to capture with respect scenes like this in the prayer hall at Dolma Ling Nunnery. Photo by the Nuns’ Media Team

One of our board members, Robin Groth, has generously offered to match gifts up to a total of $1,000 towards the Media Equipment Project to provide all 7 nunneries with a camera.

Robin Groth says, “I spent my career as a broadcast journalist and documentary producer, telling stories of people’s lives, and witnessing historical events. Now I can help the nuns give voice to their own stories of survival, hope, educational equality, and empowerment. What a joy to be part of a project enabling the nuns to record, preserve, and share their culture and accomplishments with the world.”

Sometimes members of the Nuns’ Media Team are able to travel to other nunneries and capture images there, like of these nuns debating at Geden Choeling Nunnery in Dharamsala. We hope we can provide each nunnery with a camera.

Look for photos from the nuns on our new Tibetan Nuns Project Instagram account.

Poster showing the Nuns’ Media Team based at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute

Tibetan photographer with a compassionate eye: Delek Yangdron

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Venerable Delek Yangdron is one of the most senior nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in northern India. She arrived in India the winter of 1990 as part of the first group to join the newly founded nunnery. Almost illiterate on arrival, she began her education in Buddhist studies and is now the leader of the nuns’ Media Team and is a skilled photographer and videographer.

Her determination and story of academic and professional success are inspiring.

Venerable Delek Yangdron’s path to academic and professional success has been long and difficult. She now heads the Media Team of nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in northern India.

Delek Yangdron was born in Lithang in the eastern Tibetan province of Kham, surrounded by open grasslands and snow-capped mountains. Born into a nomad family, she helped care for the family’s animals, moving the livestock in search of better pastures. Sadly, her father passed away when she was just seven and her mother died in 2000. During her time at home in Tibet, Delek Yangdron never had the opportunity to go to school or to study.

In the late 1980s, a lama from Kham, Yonten Phuntsok Rinpoche, decided to organize a special pilgrimage from Parlhakang in Kham all the way to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. Delek Yangdron joined the group of over 150 pilgrims. Continue reading →

Empowering nuns to tell their own stories