Ani Choying Drolma (born 4 June 1972), also known as Choying Dolma and Ani Choying (''Ani'', "nun", is an honorific), is a Nepalese

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

nun of Tibetan origin and musician from the

Nagi Gompa Nagi may refer to: Places *Nagi, Okayama, a town in Japan *Nagi Station, a railway station *Nagi, Nepal (disambiguation), several places *Nagi, an island in the Torres Strait Islands#Near Western islands (Maluligal Nation), Torres Strait island g ...

nunnery in

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. She is known in

and throughout the world for bringing many

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Arunachal Prades ...

chants and feast songs to mainstream audiences. She is the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador to Nepal since 2014.

Early life

Ani Choying was born on 4 June 1971, in

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

, to Tibetan exiles. She entered

monastic Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...

life as a means of escape from her physically abusive father, and she was accepted into the Nagi Gompa nunnery at the age of 13. For a number of years, the monastery's resident chant master (who was trained directly by the wife of

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (1920A Brief Biography of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
� ...

) taught Ani Choying the music that she is famous for performing.

Musical career

In 1994, guitarist

Steve Tibbetts Steve Tibbetts (born 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. He views the recording studio as a tool for creating sounds. Most of his albums include percussionist Marc Anderson. Style Tibbetts plays acoustic and electric guitar and exot ...

visited the nunnery and eventually recorded much of the Tibetan music with Ani Choying on two albums. The recordings, titled ''Chö'' and ''Selwa'', were released to critical acclaim. Tibbetts and Ani Choying embarked on small performance tours, which included shows at several historical Tibetan monasteries.

Discography

#Chö (1997) (with

) #Dancing Dakini (1999) #Choying (2000) #Moments Of Bliss (2004) #Selwa (2004) #Smile (2005) #Taking Refuge (2006) #Inner Peace (2006) #Time (2007) #Aama (2009) #Matakalaa (2010) #Inner Peace 2 (2010) #Mangal Vani (2011) #Clear Light (2012) # Zariya - Ani,

A R Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...

, Farah Siraj— Coke Studio (Season 3) at

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

(2013) #Rebuilding with Love World Tour

Humanitarian work

Ani Choying has been involved in several humanitarian works. She has advocated the need for an official Earth Anthem for the planet supporting the efforts of Indian poet-diplomat

Abhay K Abhay Kumar (known mononymously as Abhay K.) is an Indian career diplomat and the author of several books including ''Nalanda: How it Changed the World.'' He was appointed as India's first resident Ambassador to Georgia. He currently serves as ...

in this direction. She was part of India Inclusion Summit where she delivered a heart-warming speech.

Book

She published her autobiographical book

Phoolko Aankhama ''Phoolko Aankhama'' () is an autobiography by singer and writer Ani Choying Dolma. It was published on April 21, 2008. Ani Choying Dolma is a Nepalese Buddhist nun of Tibetan origin. The book has been translated into 14 languages. The title of ...

in 2008. The book has been translated into 14 different languages.

Film

"Ani Choying Drolma: Mission Impossible", dir. F. Jennifer Lin, Shan Bai, Hong Kong SAR China 2023

References

External links

Official websiteNPR: Buddhist Nun Shares the Sound of Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drolma, Ani Choying 1971 births Living people Tibetan-language singers Tibetan Buddhists from Nepal People from Kathmandu Nepalese people of Tibetan descent Performers of Buddhist music 21st-century Nepalese women singers Nepalese Buddhist nuns 20th-century Buddhist nuns 21st-century Buddhist nuns Six Degrees Records artists 21st-century Tibetan women singers