Khandro Ten’dzin Drölkar

Ten’dzin Drölkar & Khandro Déchen

Yang-lé-shöd, Nepal – October 1995

Jétsunma Khandro Ten’dzin Drölkar is an extraordinary yogini who lives in Yang-lé-shöd, Nepal. This photograph was taken in the garden of the ‘Tsogyel Lhakhang’, a Nyingma retreat place which is close to the Padmasambhava caves.

Khandro Déchen and Khandro Ten’dzin Drölkar are wearing gomthags or meditation straps which are the characteristic emblem of the naljorma (rNal ’Byor ma – Skt. yogini). The gomthags worn here are made in three sections to represent the solar, lunar and central channels. The two Lamas wear the solar channel stripe of the gomthag on the right to symbolise the female arrangement of the channels.

Khandro Déchen wears conch shell earrings and the red, white and blue shawl of the gö-kar-chang-lo’i dé (this shawl also represents the three channels).