Kocha Tikhak becomes first Buddhist nun from Arunachal's Tikhak Tangsa

A young woman from Arunachal Pradesh's Changlang district has become the first Buddhist nun from the Tikhak community, a sub-group of the Tangsa people, after being ordained into the Buddhist monastic order in Taiwan, the Arunachal Observer reported on Tuesday.

Bhikkhuni Kocha Tikhak received her formal ordination at a Buddhist monastery in Taiwan on November 6, according to the report. The term bhikkhuni refers to a fully ordained Buddhist nun.

From Old Champu to Taiwan

Kocha is the daughter of Kamhum Tikhak and Nongai Tikhak and comes from Old Champu village under the Miao subdivision of Changlang district. She completed her higher secondary education before taking up monastic life.

Her spiritual journey, the report said, began at Mudoi Vihara and at a vihara in Namsai, a district known for its Theravada Buddhist monasteries and the Golden Pagoda. From there she went to Bodh Gaya in Bihar, the place where the Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment, before moving to Taiwan, where she is now pursuing her monastic life.

Why it matters to the community

The Tikhak are one of the many groups that make up the Tangsa, who live mainly in Changlang and Tirap districts of Arunachal Pradesh and in neighbouring parts of Assam and Myanmar. A section of the Tikhak follows Theravada Buddhism, and Kocha is the first woman from the community to be ordained as a nun, the report said.

For a small community in the state's eastern corner, the ordination has been described as a moment of spiritual significance. Full ordination for women is not widely available in the Theravada tradition followed in much of South and Southeast Asia, and women seeking it often travel abroad to places such as Taiwan or Sri Lanka.

Arunachal's Buddhist heritage

Arunachal Pradesh is home to two broad Buddhist traditions: the Mahayana (Tibetan) Buddhism of Tawang and West Kameng, and the Theravada Buddhism followed by communities such as the Tai Khamti, Singpho and some Tangsa groups in Namsai, Changlang and Lohit districts.

Monasteries and viharas in these districts run schools, meditation centres and festivals, and have sent many young monks to study in Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Kocha's ordination adds a woman from the Tikhak community to that tradition.

There was no word on when she might return to Arunachal Pradesh.