Around 235 nuns of the Drukpa Buddhist monastic order, famous as 'Kung Fu nuns' who commenced an arduous cycle yatra from Kathmandu across the Indian states of Bihar and UP to create awareness for women empowerment and environmental conservation, came to Agra.
The nuns of Druk Amitabha Mountain nunnery based in the hills of Kathmandu and Naro Photang in Ladakh, have so far covered around 2,000 km and are now headed for the last stop, Delhi under the leadership of His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa.
The cycle expedition began from Kathmandu on November 18, passed through Gorakhpur, Patna, Rajgir, Gaya, Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur, Saifai and Agra before it concludes on January 9 in New Delhi. The cyclists in the group are from Ladakh, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Nepal.
Highlighting various aspects of the Cycle Yatra and the route, Konehok Lhamo a woman cyclist said, "The expedition or the yatra of 235 women is to create awareness about women empowerment and environment consciousness." "We are thankful to UP government for providing safe passage for our voluntaries in the pre-planned route," she added.
His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa, spiritual head of the Drukpa Order, environmentalist, an active proponent of gender equality and United Nations MDG Award Honoree said, "The condition of women in India is not good as compare to other nations. During our cycle expedition, we have promote the message of respecting women and giving them equivalence power with men."
Speaking on his experience during the tour, Gyalwang Drukpa who founded 'Live to Love' foundation said, "People of various villages and towns provided us milk, vegetables and eatables for free of cost of cyclists and even arranged shelters for night stay."
Before heading for New Delhi, Gyalwang said, "Next year the group will ride 5000 km for the similar cause."
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