Kushalanagara

Kushalanagara is a town located in the east of Kodagu district, near the Kaveri river, Karnataka. In pre-Independence times, it was known as Fraserpet after Colonel Fraser who was the Political Agent in Coorg around 1834. The town is located on Mangalore -Mysore state highway(SH 88).

R.Gundu Rao, former Chief Minister of Karnataka, hails from this town. The main languages in Kushalanagara are Are Bhashe, Kannada and Kodava Takk. Tibetan is also spoken by Tibetan settlers.

Tibetan Monastery

The Tibetan Monastery or the Tibet Camp as locally called is located around 6 kms from Kushalnagar town towards Mysore. This Tibetan settlement at Bailkoppa or Baylkuppe is the the second largest Tibetan settlement outside Tibet. There are over 7,000 monks and students at the Tibetan monastery.

After the Chinese took over Tibet, the refugees were settled at Bylkuppe near Kushalnagar and the Buddhist Monastery was re-established here in 1972. It houses over 7,000 monks and students today. The monastery not only attracts large number of young Tibetans seeking enlightenment and education, but also draws huge tourists from all over India and abroad.

Bylakuppe Tibetan settlement consists of a number of small camps close to each other, and has a lot of monasteries, nunneries. Most famous among them are the large educational institution Sera, the smaller Tashilunpo monastery and Namdroling monastery. The 40 ft tall golden Buddha statues are the major attractions of Bailkoppa. The statues of Buddha, Padmasambhava, and Amitayus are the notable ones. The walls of the temples and the institutions are decorated with colorful paintings depicting gods and demons from Tibetan Buddhist mythology. The altar is decorated with flowers, candles and incense sticks.

Apart from the calm and peaceful surroundings there are shopping centers near the temples where one can shop for traditional Tibetan items like costumes, statues, carpets, jewelery etc.

Golden temple madikeri tourist helpline
Namdroling Monastery
Arlikumari, P.O. Bylakuppe,
Mysore, Karnataka 571104
Phone Number: 082232 54318