Deer Park Institute, Kangra Infrastructure: Hostel, Auditorium & Other Facilities

Ayesha Taneem

Facilities :-

Accommodation

Deer Park Institute maintains basic accommodation facilities that are available for all registered students/participants of our programs. For maintenance and operational purposes students are requested to make a contribution-donation for accommodation.

Meals In Deer Park

Healthy and hygienic international meals are prepared in the Deer Park kitchen for people who are attending courses at the Institute or staying on campus. All meals are vegetarian but not vegan.

In order to avoid wastage of food, we only prepare enough food for guests who have booked their meals in advance. Meal bookings for individuals have to be made at least three hours in advance at our dining area. Group orders (more than six people) should give one day notice. For meals on your day of arrival, please inform us when you make your booking. Breakfast is served at 7:30am, lunch at 12 noon and dinner at 6pm.

As of November 2012, we are offering two meal plans: full and budget, the former including a more extensive selection of dishes than the latter. Meals are on a donation basis.

Free filtered water is available throughout the day on our campus. We encourage all guests to bring their own water bottle in order to reduce waste generated through plastic mineral water bottles.

Unfortunately we do not have facilities for guests to cook for themselves during their stay. We also cannot accommodate individual food preferences and/or requirements.

Teaching Halls :-

Manjushri Hall

Manjushri Hall is our main teaching hall. It can accommodate up to 120 people. The bodhisattva Manjushri is the embodiment of transcendent wisdom. The statue in this hall shows an unusual form of White Manjushri, which arose as a vision to Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and is known in Tibetan as Jamyang Zer Barwa (Blazing Light Manjushri). Instead of the more familiar sword-wielding posture, Manjushri is depicted in the ‘teaching mudra’, holding two lotus flowers which support the sword (symbolizing the wisdom which cuts through ignorance) and the prajnaparamita text (symbolizing learning).

Tara Hall

Tara Hall is used for our community meetings, yoga classes and various secular workshops. The hall is named after the female Buddha Tara who embodies compassionate action, removes obstacles and liberates from fear. Tara Hall was the first hall completed at Dzongsar Institute in the 1980s, and it served as the main assembly hall and classroom until the Buddha Hall, and later Manjushri Hall, were built. The original statue of Tara was moved to Dzongsar’s new campus at Chauntra in 2004.

Buddha Hall

Buddha Hall is used for daily meditation and teachings of small group of students. Many students also use this hall for their daily practice.

Library

With the contribution and support of many friends, organisations and the Indian government, we now have a collection of more than 5000 English, Hindi and Tibetan books on Buddhism, Indian Philosophy, Classical Tibetan and Sanskrit Studies, Ecology, Art and Literature. We welcome students or outside visitors to use the library and to borrow books with a deposit of Rs.500 per book.