Bylakuppe-Karnataka’s Mini Tibet

In the vicinity of Mysore in Karnataka lies the home to Southern India’s largest Tibetan settlement known as Bylakuppe which is home to the largest Tibetan settlement in India out of Dharamshala. Mini Tibet as Bylakuppe is rightfully known as is due to the array of Tibetan styled houses, cuisine, monasteries, and handicraft shops, when taking a stroll across Bylakuppe one must not feel surprised to find writings in the Tibetan script as the whole town is symbolic of the Tibetan culture that Dalai Lama essentially wanted to preserve while resettling thousands of Tibetans to India after Chinese attacks on Tibet. Bylakuppe was founded in 1960 after the then Government of Mysore allotted about 3000 acres of land to Tibetans resettling in India, initially the area had massive forest cover and the recent Tibetan settlers would have to live in communities of tents however gradually with the help of the local government the previously uninhabitable area was cultivated into a town divided into camps thriving with schools, shops, housing facilities, and monasteries. An ideal travel itinerary would include a visit to all of the monasteries in Bylakuppe which is home to monasteries representing all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism which are Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug. It is not unusual to feel lost in the streets of Bylakuppe which may seem like a whole other world filled with monks in traditional red robes and an array of traditional Tibetan restaurants however the Tibetans have been well integrated into the local Kannadiga culture as most people are multilingual and are fluent in Kannada, Hindi, and English. Some of the most popular monasteries in Bylakuppe are the Namdroling Monastery popularly known as the Golden Temple which houses over 5000 monks and the Sera Mey Monastic debate Hall which is popular for its debates. Apart from monasteries, Bylakuppe has stupas built by the Tibetan Youth Congress in memory of the people who sacrificed their lives for the cause of an independent and free Tibet, there is also a small lake known as La Tso which may catch one’s attention since the fish in the lake are looked after so they may have a long life as the lake was blessed by the 14th Dalai Lama and locals preserve this lake and its aquatic life to ensure the long life of the Dalai Lama, this lake is generally under strict surveillance and no tourist is allowed to feed spoilt or unhealthy food to the fish and officials make sure that tourists buy food from the lake management to feed the fish. Bylakuppe is also home to traditional Tibetan handicrafts the most popular being the Thangka paintings which are painted on cotton or silk and depict scenes from the life of Buddha and other deities and gods and tourists may buy these paintings from the Tibetan Handicraft Center, tourists may also find it interesting to get an experience of trying local Tibetan dresses which are also available in shops such as the Dorje collection.

  Altogether a visit to Bylakuppe is a must with its friendly locals and amusing culture if one intends on exploring hidden gems within Karnataka, Bylakuppe is also ideally located being 84 Kms from Mysore and 216 Kms from Bangalore and one may opt to travel by the abundance of buses available to Bylakuppe from Mysore and Bangalore.