KINNAUR (Himachal Pradesh): A four-year-old boy from Pooh village in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district has been formally recognised as the ninth incarnation of revered Buddhist master Yulgial Tulku Rinpoche, drawing thousands of devotees to the region for the traditional Mundan Sanskar ceremony.
The young reincarnate, identified after a rigorous religious process, arrived at the Shada Vai Buddhist Gompa in Kullu district, where monks performed the customary head-shaving ritual marking his formal entry into monastic life. A larger number of devotees from across Kinnaur and neighbouring regions gathered to seek blessings from the new incarnation, whom they believe will continue the spiritual legacy of the centuries-old lineage.
Acharya Roshan Lal of Dechen Choi Khor Mahavihara said the first incarnation of Yulgial Tulku Rinpoche appeared in 1730 in the royal family of Ladakh before undertaking monastic training in Tibet.
“The first religious guru, Yugel Rinpoche, took his first incarnation in 1730 in the royal family of Ladakh and after that he received punishment in the Buddhist Mahavihara of Tibet. The religious leader then preached Buddhism and punished people to live a peaceful life,” he said.
“Over his successive births, the revered Dharma Guru preached Buddhism across Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, Tibet and Ladakh. During his eighth incarnation, he lived and taught extensively at the gompa in Kinnaur”, he said, adding that the ninth reincarnation has now been ceremonially inducted at the same Mahavihara.
Roshan Lal said that even after that, he was reincarnated by the religious leader and during his eighth birth, he stayed in the gompa of Kinnaur. Now he has again taken his ninth birth and was circumcised in Dechen Choi Khor Mahavihar.
Roshan Lal said that Dharma Guru studied Buddhism in Kinnaur, Lahaul, Spiti, Tibet and Leh in Ladakh in his first birth and preached it among the people. He also stayed for a long time in the Buddhist Maha Vihar in Tashi Gang, Kinnaur, along with Hemis Gompa in Ladakh, and even today Buddhism is taught in the Buddhist Maha Vihar in Kinnaur.
Chief Lama, Devi Lal, of Jangi Math, Kinnaur, said that the eighth incarnation of the revered monk had occurred in Jangi village and expressed joy that the new rebirth had occurred in Kinnaur again. “Today, his Mundan Sanskar Utsav was held. His formal initiation will follow at Shada Vai Buddhist Bihar Math. For Kinnaur, it is a matter of great happiness that the new avatar has taken birth here”, he said. (ANI)
