The central monk body has begun teaching computer operations to monks
in its bid to electronically archive Bhutan’s rich collection of
Buddhist manuscripts, biographies and historical documents.

Twenty monks of the central monk body recently completed a two-week computer
operations course conducted by the National Technical Training Authority
under its special skills programme. Among the skills taught were using
Dzongkha (the national language) fonts with MS Word, typing, editing and
formatting in Dzongkha, typing pechas (scripts) and using templates
for pechas, printing techniques and an introduction to the internet. With
this training the monks will be able to save all the scripts on computers
using CDs as back up storage. The central monk body has already purchased
twelve computers for the project and will soon buy another eight.

This project was personally initiated and funded by His Holiness the
Je Khenpo, His Holiness contributed Nu 1.8 million (£25,289/$36,815
source http://www.xe.com) to the project.

To start with the Drukpa Kagyued text will be compiled. “Some portions
of the text have been lost”, said Karma Lhendup of the central monk
body, “but we have borrowed the text from Buddhist monasteries in
India and Nepal to fill in the missing bits and make corrections where
necessary.” He added that other rare Buddhist texts, which once
existed in Bhutan but are now lost, will also be borrowed and archived.
Important religious texts of other Buddhist lineages like the Nyingma
tradition will be compiled at a later date.

“When we complete compiling, our archive will be accessible to
the public and those interested in research” said Karma Lhendup.

Keep up to date with news from Bhutan by visiting Bhutan’s national
newspaper online at www.kuenselonline.com

This article was taken from the April 2002 newsletter of The Bhutan Society.
With thanks to Lucy Hornberger and Kevin Brackley from the UK.