Monks at Druk Sangay Choling Monastery in Dali. Picture by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, May 2: As the drone of the gyaling wafts through the Druk Sangay Choling Monastery, young and old monks scurry across the gumba for their religious classes. For hours they pour into religious philosophy (Tawa), far removed from the excitement over the election in the rest of the country.

An architectural marvel, the monastery in Dali is one of the biggest in eastern India with monks from across the Himalayas thronging the Buddhist seat of learning, but few, if any, are interested in exercising their franchise.

“Ninety-three per cent of our students are eligible to vote, but hardly anyone is interested. The monks have always stayed away from politics,” says Tenzing, secretary of the monastery. The others are from Nepal and Bhutan while most of the religious teachers are from Tibet and hence are not eligible to vote.

At present, 240 students study in the monastery and elections hardly figure in their daily discussion. Across the hills, there are around 800 monks studying in various monasteries and most have always stayed away from the polls.

“Many come from places like Lohul in Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, and during elections we don’t find anyone going to their places to cast their votes,” said Tenzing.

A monk is expected to study at least 10 years to acquire the required knowledge not only in Buddhist religious practices and meditation, but also in the philosophy of Hinduism and Jainism.

Dubgey Tenzing, a monk who hails from Bimalpur in Assam, wakes up at 4.30 in the morning and performs Tara Devi Puja to start his day. The prayers go on for almost two-and-a-half hours, after which they attend Drukpa Kargyud School till 3 pm following which they perform the evening puja — called Mahakal puja — and are occupied till 9 in the evening.

“I am 18 and am now eligible to vote, but I don’t think I will. Besides, I hardly know anything about the elections,” he says.

His compatriots feel the same way. Lakpha Tshering, 21, from Bhubaneswar, has been studying religion for the past 13 years and does not find it important to go home to cast a vote. “I have never exercised my franchise and am more interested in becoming a scholar.”

Most of them are not even sure whether their names are included in the voters’ list, as they have always remained cut off from the mainstream society. Nawang Lama (25) said: “I am not sure whether I have my name or not but till date I have never voted.”

Tenzing, the secretary, however, maintains, that during the last elections, a few of the monks had gone to cast their votes. “I remember some local monks had gone to NimkiDara to vote but not many of them did so.”

Even those who have their voter identity cards had applied for the official document more out of need than to take it to the polling stations.

Authorities at the monastery admit that it is the moral responsibility of all citizens to exercise their franchise but they admitted that the monks had little or no interest in politics.

Most are not even aware of the candidates who are in the fray even though some of them read the newspapers and listen to the radio broadcast, whenever possible. But elections are too worldly for those who have renounced earthly issues.