KACHEN

Kachen Dugyal passed away in meditation at Kee village, Spiti in 1998. Following the directions of H.H. the Dalai Lama, on June 26, 2011 searchers from Spiti found his reincarnation in Leh, Ladakh. The boy's name was Rinchen Namgyal, son of Tsewang Norbu. On August 8 the office of the Dalai Lama sent a letter to the searchers confirming that the boy was the reincarnation of Kachen Dugyal. On September 8 the boy, with an entourage of monks and lay Buddhists, traveled from Leh to Spiti for a series of events. These included official recognition as the reincarnation of Kachen Dugyal at Kee Gompa, and becoming the student of Lochen Rinpoche Tulku. After leaving Spiti, Rinchen Namgyal went to Dharamsala where he met with H.H. the Dalai Lama, the Karmapa Lama, and other lamas and Buddhist teachers. He is currently studying at the Sera Je in Karnataka.

Kachen La with his parents in Losar village (Photo: Tanzin Angmo)

Kachan La's visit to Spiti was recorded by many videographers and photographers from Ladakh and Spiti, incuding the girls from the Kachen Dugyal Memorial Girls Hostel in Kaza. The video clips were compiled by the members of the KDM Society into a record of his visit and now exists as a 105 minute movie titled “KACHEN”.  Bhoti (Tibetan) script is used for the titles, subtitles and explanatory pages.

Kachen La’s arrival in Kee village (Photo: Norzin Lamo)

Photographs of Kachen La’s visit to Spiti taken by girls from the KDM Girls Hostel were exhibited at the hostel October, 2011,  along with the movie. The photos in this post are from that exhibit.

The movie is available from:

Tsering Norbu

Kachen Dugyal Memorial Girls Hostel

Kaza, Spiti, Lahaul-Spiti District

Himachal Pradesh, India

Kachen La (Photo: Norzin Lamo)