It's our SAMADHI story

Our story
Samadhi Incense Store is located in the newly opened Kumud Cafe (September 2023) within Kagyu Institute of Buddhist Studies or KIBS (Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal). Samadhi Incense Store is a humble, unassuming, small haven where a variety of incense products along with other items can be purchased. The proceeds will help fund the necessary expenditures of running the nunnery and support the anis' daily lives.
Tharpa Choeling Nunnery is located at one of the places where the great Tibetan Buddhist yogi Shangpa Rinpoche stayed and 'turned the wheel of Dharma'. Last century, he built many monasteries and stupas in the area.
Shangpa Tulku Rinpoche (1960) is recognized as his reincarnation. Many of the current practitioners and lay devotees were his past life disciples, including the Mustang King Jigme Palbar Bista. It was under his invitation that Shangpa Tulku Rinpoche made his first trip back to Muthinath in March 1994. At that occasion a piece of land near the pilgrimage site Muktinath was donated to Rinpoche, where Tharpa Choeling Nunnery now stands.
The nunnery consists of a gompa (shrine hall), nuns' quarters, a retreat room for abbot Shangpa Rinpoche. The ground breaking ceremony was held on 13 July 1995. The construction of the nunnery has been completed and the opening ceremony was held on the 4 October 2000. Over the years, improvements to the nunnery had been slowly added such as a chorten.
The young anis reside in KIBS to receive basic education. As such, some of the senior anis who take care of the juniors also moved to KIBS.
The idea of making incense came about around 2010. It was mainly to create self-sustenance for the anis. Under the guidance of Shangpa Rinpoche, a simple workshop was created in KIBS.
  • 13 July 1995
    Ground breaking of Tharpa Choeling Nunnery, Muktinath
  • 4 October 2000
    Opening ceremony of Tharpa Choeling Nunnery
  • 5 December 2004
    Opening ceremony of Kagyu Institute of Buddhist Studies.
  • 2010
    The humble beginnings of Samadhi Incense
  • 9 Jan 2011
    Created social media presence of Samadhi Incense (FB)
  • September 2023
    Established Kumud Cafe within KIBS
  • September 2023
    Created a small Samadhi Incense Store in Kumud Cafe located within KIBS
  • October 2023
    Published Samadhi Incense website and created Samadhi Incense Store social presence (IG)
Our values
Happy Customers Bringing joy to our customers with each product. Over the years, we have gained an international clientele for our Samadhi Incense, which we are very grateful for. We will continue to do our best to make the best quality incense for everyone.
High Standards We have very high standards in the making of our incense. From our humble beginnings in 2010, we have created a variety of incense products for all dharma practitioners.
Finest Ingredients We source and use the finest, purest, holiest ingredients in the making of our incense in order to make the sincerest incense offerings to the Triple Gems and Triple Roots.
Save history & traditions We follow the traditional methods of making incense by hand. The only machine we have is a press machine to help us make the incense sticks more uniform. We also sought Tibetan physicians' advice on the most suitable substances to put into our incense.