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# He puts Bhutan on the map
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/he-puts-bhutan-on-the-map/
- Published: 2006-12-30T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T23:31:03.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Business, Main St, #archive-import

*Shopkeeper was trained to be a monk from age 6*

SECOND STREET — What might be one of the oddest business plans in existence has proven quite successful for one Bhutanese man with an extensive history.

For the past 22 years, Benchen Khenpo — who claims to be a reincarnate Lama with tight connections to the Bhutanese royal family — has opened a store in Santa Monica, showcasing a vast collection of the traditional Bhutanese arts and crafts. His goal is to raise awareness for the culture of the relatively unknown and tiny South Asian country of about 670,000 people nestled in the Himalayas between India and China.

Bhutan Handicrafts is unlike any of the other stores in the Los Angeles area that specialize in ethnic apparel and crafts. Khenpo’s plan, since he opened shop in 1984 on Main Street near Rose Avenue, has been to keep the store in business for only one or two months out of the year, and then head back home to Bhutan.

Once the selling period — which usually occurs in November and December — is over, Khenpo packs up his inventory and stores it until the following year, when he repeats it all over again.During the rest of the year,Khenpo is busy traveling across his countryside into the rural areas, meeting with the people from whom he purchases the items that are displayed in his collection. For the past 10 years, Khenpo and his wife, Tashi Wangmo, 40, have also been busy running their own touring company, Lingkor Tours & Treks.

Khenpo, 62, said he has good reason not to keep Bhutan Handicrafts running all year.

“Only I know the background of all my products here so I can explain it to my customers,” he said on Thursday at his shop, located this year on Second Street. “Without me, there will be nobody to explain the items and the customers won’t buy it. I have to explain that the items are not machine-made.”

Due to the lack of free space on Main Street and the reluctance of property owners to lease a space for only one month, Khenpo was forced to relocate the business from Main Street for the first time. He opened on Dec. 1 at his friend’s gallery at 1418 Second St., and plans to close his doors on Sunday.

The small temporary shop, filled with the smell of incense, is lined with colorful traditional Bhutanese scarves and dresses, all hand woven from the people of Bhutan. His collection represents the hard work of some 400 people from Bhutan. Opening a shop became Khenpo’s dream when he first visited the United States in 1977, after resigning his post as a diplomat in India. Visiting America for the first time was a culture shock for Khenpo, who was used to the natural beauty of his homeland.

> “I’m used to clean air in Bhutan. I can’t deal with East Los Angeles. “The people are nice in this area and a lot of people are interested in the arts.”

It also came as a surprise that he did not encounter a store specializing in traditional Bhutanese arts and crafts. There are just 212 Bhutanese people in America, according to the United States 2000 Census.

“That is the reason why, when I go back, I always bring something from my country and make it available to the West,” said Khenpo. “That is why I started this project.”

Khenpo began traveling across the country in 1979, showcasing the arts and crafts to homeowners and museums. His efforts paid off, with his collections having been displayed in the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., the Asian Arts Museum in San Francisco, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Mingei International Museum in San Diego.

When he decided to open a temporary store, Santa Monica was a logical choice, being the city that most reminded him of Bhutan.

“The weather is much better and cleaner \[than in other parts of California\],” he said.

Today, Khenpo runs the store with the help of his wife and his son, Ogyen Tsheden, 15, and daughter, Tshering Yangden, 19, a freshman at Santa Monica College who remains in the city.

A devout Buddhist, Khenpo was told at the young age of 6 that he was the reincarnation of a guru to the royal family of Bhutan.

Khenpo was taken to a monastery for training, where he stayed until he turned 10 and was transferred to Tibet with a guru. When China took over Tibet in the 1950s, Khenpo fled with his guru back to Bhutan. He resigned from the temple at 18, turning in his robe to the guru.

“I gave my vow back and became a lay person,” he said. “But the guru said, ‘Remember who you are and meditate every morning and evening.’

“I’ve never missed a prayer.” For more information about Bhutan and Benchen Khenpo’s business, visit his Web site at www.lingkor.com.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 30, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/123006.pdf?ref=smdp.com)