Building out a young center in the eastern hills, on the border with India
Dhamma Suriyo sits at about 1,200 meters in Suryodaya, Ilam, in the far east of Nepal, a short walk from Fikkal and a few kilometers from the Indian border near Darjeeling and Sikkim. Old students donated the 5.5 acre site in 2014, and the first ten-day course was held there in 2018. The center now runs one ten-day course every month, along with one-day and three-day courses for old students and one-day Anapana courses for children. Three servers support each ten-day course, not counting those serving in the kitchen and dining hall.
Where things stand (August 2026)
The main Dhamma hall is complete. The remaining facilities in the center's master plan have still to be built, so courses run well below the capacity the site was planned for.
The master plan
The plan brings the center to 100 students on a ten-day course, 50 men and 50 women. It covers:
Student residences for men and for women
Teacher's residence quarters
A dining hall and kitchen
A pagoda is envisaged for the site but sits outside this estimate and is not part of what is described here.
What this changes
Eastern Nepal has one Vipassana center, and it also serves old students and new students from the neighboring Indian hill districts. At present a single ten-day course a month, held in the buildings available, sets the limit on how many people can sit. Completing the residences, the dining hall and the kitchen would bring each ten-day course to 100 students, allow courses to run closer together than one a month, and give those who come to serve proper conditions in which to do so. It would also open the way to the longer courses the site was planned for.
Financial overview
The center estimates the cost of the remaining construction at approximately USD 1,000,000, covering the student residences, the teacher's quarters, and the dining hall and kitchen.
Directing your danĀ
The Vipassana Community Foundation (VCF) serves as a bridge, helping old students direct danā across borders to Dhamma projects such as this one. VCF does not decide where funds go. Danā flows only when an old student chooses to direct it, and giving through VCF complements giving to the center directly. Anyone with the volition to give is welcome to take part, and no offering is too small to be meaningful.
May all who offer their time, energy, or volition at Dhamma Suriyo grow in wisdom and compassion.
MAKE A DONATION
You will receive a U.S. tax-deductible receipt upon donating. U.S-based individuals can also donate via the PayPal Giving Fund, which allows 100% of the donation to support the Dhamma, with no fees deducted.
******
If you have any problems or questions with your donation you can reach us at donations@vcf.dhamma.org
*Note that VCF can also receive danā in the forms of: cash, check, wire transfer, crypto currency, securities, or other complex donations. Feel free to reach out to us if you would prefer to donate via one of these alternative methods. Also, VCF allocates 2% of any international donations to the admin fund to help cover any operational & legal costs related to international giving.