Sneak preview of UTEP’s Lhakhang cultural center

this weekend – utep will unveil its centennial plaza – after nearly two years of construction. and the main attraction: a beautiful hand- crafted bhutanese temple. this is a lak-ang – which translates to house of god. found in bhutanese villages – as a place for prayer – it was all handcrafted – with no nails or modern machinery! students can see the ornate walls that depict the story of buddha. and even though a lhakhang has a spiritual purpose in bhutan – not the case at utep: so this is really a bhutanese cultural center. We’re not going to have religious ceremonies in there. We’re not going to have a resident religious person from Bhutan who’s going to share thoughts about a specific religion the lhakhang was on display at the 2008 smithsonian folk life festival in washington dc. as a gift to the u-s – with the stipulation it be displayed at utep afterward. every day that passes by is another