History

         Local accounts indicate that Bir was first established by immigrants from Bengal around 1600 C.E. These families established in Bir proper. Other groups migrated in a large amount more recently, starting in the early 20th.

 

The Tibetan Colony

       In 1966 the third Neten Chokling (1928-1973), an in person lama of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, brought his family and a small associates to Bir. With the help of foreign aid Neten Chokling purchased over 200 acres of land and recognized a Tibetan settlement where 300 Tibetan families were given ground to build houses. At this time Chokling Rinpoche also started building in Bir a new Neten monastery and disciples who had followed him into India formed its first sangha. When the third Chokling Rinpoche passed away in 1973, his eldest son, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche, assumed responsibility for completing his father’s vision. The fourth Neten Chokling incarnation was born in 1973 in Bhutan and brought to Bir at a young age where the family of the third Chokling took him under their wings. In 2004 full responsibility for Pema Ewam Chögar Gyurme Ling Monastery in Bir was passed to the fourth Neten Chokling.