Minister meets the Kung Fu Nuns of the Drukpa Order

Union Minister of State for Tourism and Culture (IC) Prahlad Singh Patel met the Kung Fu Nuns on November 4th at New Delhi. The Kung Fu Nuns of the Drukpa Order, some of the Himalayas’ most prominent human rights advocates, recently received the Asia Society’s prestigious Game Changer Award in New York on 30th October 2019 for their path-breaking work to empower women and dismantle gender stereotypes in the Himalayas.

The Union Minister congratulated the Kung Fu Nuns for receiving Asia Society’s Game Changer Award for their heroic activism and called them true symbol of women empowerment. The Minister was very much impressed with their tagline ‘BE YOUR OWN HERO’. He said that the slogan is motivating and inspirational for all of us. While interacting with Kung Fu Nuns Shri Patel came to know about the meaning of their first name, The Nuns use Jigme as their first name and the meaning of Jigme is ‘fearless’.

The Kung Fu Nuns join the likes of iconic Indian leaders Indra Nooyi, Mukesh Ambani, and Dev Patel, who have also been honored by the Asia Society in previous years.

More about The Kung Fu Nuns

The Kung Fu Nuns are the fearless daughters of India who represent a new generation of Buddhists using spirituality to inspire real-life action & impact. They are a strong community of 700 nuns and growing, with a thousand year-old Drukpa legacy. Harnessing the ancient martial art to build strength, promote equality, and improve communities, they are inspiring young girls to break stereotypes and be their own heroes. They belong to the Drukpa Lineage, a thousand-year-old Buddhist tradition that began in the Himalayas. The Gyalwang Drukpa, the spiritual leader and founder of the Drukpa order, encouraged his nuns to train in Kung Fu to build confidence as leaders. In doing so, he flouted centuries of Buddhist tradition that barred nuns from physical exercise. They are the only Buddhist nuns in the world to practice the martial art. The nuns use their martial arts expertise to challenge gender roles in India’s conservative culture.

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