Neyphug Heritage Sets Up Cafe In Paro To Give Back To Monastery

Neyphug Heritage’s Your Cafe in Paro offers a farm-to-table food concept.

By Passang Lhamo | Daily Bhutan

Located next to the Paro-Thimphu highway and a five-minute drive away from Paro International Airport, is a cafe establishment that is housed in what was previously abandoned ruins. After restoration, the traditional Bhutanese mud-rammed building is now a landmark that can be seen from afar and its unpainted facade exudes a rustic character to the entire place.

The establishment, now known as Neyphug Heritage, was the former residence of His Eminence The Neyphug Trulku Rinpoche and is part of Neyphug Monastery. Making up a large part of the refurbished building is a cafe called Your Cafe. Serving fresh vegetables and fruits from the farmer’s market nearby, Your Cafe – the only eatery in Paro that is fully vegetarian – has adopted a farm-to-table concept that dishes out fresh seasonable produce.

All proceeds from this cafe goes to the sustainability and funding of Neyphug Monastery, its sangha and other employees. The monastery currently house 75 monks and relies on private funds solely from The 9th Neytrul Rinpoche (Ngawang Shedrup Choki Nima) students overseas. Expenses for food, utilities and education comes to 1.2 million Ngultrum annually. Being a privately owned monastery, they do not receive subsidies from the government or any other entities. 

 

His Majesty’s advice

The sustainable cafe concept is a brainchild of the 9th Neytrul Rinpoche. In 2008 when Rinpoche was granted an audience with His Majesty the Fifth King of Bhutan for the monastery restoration project, His Majesty said that "it will be important for you to make this temple self-sustainable rather than building a grand temple. In our country, many great masters built great temples but when the master dies, the temple dies too."

Rinpoche said he had no idea how to make it self-sustainable and somehow saw it was a blessing that he still had an old 17th century farm house. He claimed that it is his service to the country and to the King, and so while keeping the words of His Majesty on his mind, he decided to turn the farm house into a commercial enterprise.

Rinpoche said he decided not to tear the farm house down out of respect to all the successful Trulkus (4th to 8th) before him, the historical importance of it and also His Majesty’s command.

 

 

Indonesian dharma student's idea for funding of cafe

The idea of the funding for social enterprise cafe came from an Indonesian student of Rinpoche. She is based in Singapore and has been studying dharma with him for the past 15 years.

Madam Suparmi Sakri told Daily Bhutan: "In the past years, I have noticed how Rinpoche has to upkeep Neyphug Monastery singlehandedly, looking after the welfare and education of 70 monks. Neyphug Heritage was created for the self-sustainability of the monastery."

She added that it was a great privilege to work on the Neyphug Heritage project with Rinpoche and all the Bhutanese talents.

"Our vision is to create a community built upon positive karma and our mission is to inculcate the principles of self-sustainability through education and opportunities for advancement. It (Neyphug Heritage) is a commercially viable platform that has been created for the purpose of education and skill training. Through this platform, we enhance lives by giving them a purpose, relevant skills for a brighter future and a positive outlook.

"All the proceeds from Your Cafe and the services provided at Neyphug Heritage go to support Neyphug Monastery. By having meals and shopping here will also make you a patron of the monastery," said Madam Sakri, who is also the Director of Neyphug Heritage.

Interior of Your Cafe. (Source: Neyphug Foundation Facebook page)

 

Neyphug Heritage’s historical past

The restored ruins house the Neyphug Heritage centre today, but in the past, the heritage farm house used to belong to Zhabdrung Rinpoche.

During the reign of 10th Desi Mipham Wangpo confronted a tough rebellion by the Tibetans and 4th Neyphug Trulku Sangdag Nueden Dorji managed to clear the conflict by performing the wrathful ritual of Rahula that displayed terrifying spells of power and repelled all northern attacks from its origin.

Thereafter, Bhutan never saw any threats from the hands of Tibetans and 4th Neyphug Trulku won much respect from the governor. In recognition of 4th Neyphug Trulku's services, the government offered him a farm house and seven acres of land, which is now registered as the property of Neyphug Trulku.

Since 2005, the 9th Neyphug Trulku Rinpoche has offered all the rice from his land to the Dratshang (monastic body) for monks for their breakfast. Over time, the farm house became so ruined that Rinpoche was not able to live in it.

 

 

Old timber and wall transformed into heritage complex

In 2011, the main temple at Neyphug Goenpa was destroyed by an earthquake. The 9th Neyphug Trulku Rinpoche decided to bring down all the timbers, doors, windows, floor and pillars to restore the farm house.

"We used the old timber from Neyphug and the old wall of Shaba together. These two big ruins became a 3-storey heritage complex”, said the current 9th Neyphug Trulku.

Therein lies the charm of this project: Everything is recycled, there is minimum usage of new timber, and there is no cement being used, much like traditional Bhutanese architecture.

The restoration programme of the farm house educated and inspired the next generation of young engineers and architects. At the same time, it helped preserve the traditional Bhutanese architectural engineering knowledge, skills and rich cultural heritage. The construction started in June 2017 and completed in February 2018. The cafe was also opened in October 2018 as part of Neyphug Heritage.

Things to do at Neyphug Heritage. (Source: Neyphug foundation Facebook page)

 

6 things to do at Neyphug Heritage

1. Your Cafe

Your Cafe is mainly a farm-to-table concept restaurant that serves fresh and organic food. They grow their own vegetables as well. Your Cafe is located along the road, below the Neyphug Heritage's three-storey building. 

The cafe is vast in size, with outdoor and indoor seating areas with beautiful wooden furniture. Their huge menu boards just by the entrance offers a plethora of healthy meal sets, and freshly baked goodies like pastries and bread. They serve a large variety of coffees like lattes, Americano, cappuccinos, and so on, all freshly brewed. The free and uninterrupted Wi-Fi makes the place even more enticing for people who want to hang around a bit longer. With quick and warm services, this café is one of the most beautiful cafes in Paro valley.

Enjoy the beautiful view of the wide Paro valley and rice terraces, while having meals in Your Cafe. It also serves various cuisines ranging from Bhutanese ema datsi (chilli cheese), Indian Thali, and so on.

 

2. Your Shop

Your Shop is a lifestyle shop that is yet to be opened. Once the project is complete, Your Shop will be selling locally made goods and crafts such as woollen jackets, wooden masks, bags, cane and bamboo products, and much more.

 

3. Your Foot Reflexology

Your Foot Reflexology is an area where people can get a massage. After a long day of hiking up to Tiger’s Nest, this is a place where you can get a bit of relaxation time. It is also a good pit stop after a long and tiring flight.

4. Your Business Centre (co-working space )

On the first floor of the Neyphug Heritage complex is Your Business Centre, also called Your Office. It is basically a workspace sharing concept room. For example, if you have a project in Paro for two weeks, you can rent an office or table with them, where you get access to a desk to work, and an office assistant from Neyphug Heritage to help you with certain requirements. You can also hold a conference there at Neyphug Heritage's conference hall.

"Since it’s a new concept in Bhutan, it is a bit difficult to materialise. Hopefully people will appreciate this,” said Rinpoche, referring to the Your Business Centre concept.

5. Your Farmers Market

Neyphug Heritage also has a Farmers Market alongside the street. This is where local farmers can bring their homegrown vegetables to sell.

 Your farmer's market above the Neyphug Heritage complex (Source: Neyphug Foundation Facebook Page)

6. Retreat Centre

On the second floor is Your Retreat Centre. There is a small altar where people can come and meditate with their own teacher, and they can also hold a conference here. The purpose of this retreat centre is for people to do retreats or to rejuvenate, be it through an exercise session, or spiritual or yoga workshops.

 

7. Nang Gi Aum food stall

There will also soon be a small food stall within Neyphug Heritage called Nang Gi Aum (which means "lady of the house"). Local foods such as ema datshi (chilli cheese), ezay (chilli paste), suja (butter tea), and red rice will be sold and people can stop by to enjoy it.

Neyphug Heritage will also have a playroom for children on the ground floor, so when parents come here to dine at Your Cafe, they can let their children play there. The attic is kept as a multipurpose room, where small events can be held while overlooking the beautiful view.

 

What does Rinpoche get as the owner of Neyphug Heritage?

 He get his meals free. Otherwise, he and his family members all have to pay. As the money goes to the monastery, Rinpoche said that nobody has a right to take anything from the cafe. He also has to pay for the guest he is entertaining.

All the revenue and net profit from the entire Neyphug Heritage go to Neyphug Monastery's well-being. The Neyphug Monastery is governed by Neyphug Foundation.

 

Neyphug Heritage's Your Cafe is located along the Paro-Thimphu Highway in Shaba, Paro, and about 1.4km from Le Meridien Paro.