19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche

His Holiness
19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche
Title19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche
Personal
Born(1918-05-27)27 May 1918
Royal Palace of Matho
Died4 November 2003(2003-11-04) (aged 85)
Saket, New Delhi
ReligionTibetan Buddhism
Senior posting
Period in office21 May 1917 – 4 November 2003
Predecessor?
Successor20th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche

Ngawang Lobzang Thupstan Chognor[1][2] (Tibetan: ངག་དབང་བློ་བཟང་ཐུབ་བསྟན་མཆོག་ནོར, Wylie: ngag dbang blo bzang thub bstan mchog nor), commonly known as 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche (19 May 1918 – 4 November 2003) was a Buddhist lama, who also served as India's ambassador to Mongolia. He is mainly known for his efforts in reviving Buddhism in Mongolia and Russia by linking them with the community of Tibetan exiles in India.[3]

He was born in the Matho branch of the Royal House of Ladakh, India. He was the youngest child of his father, Nangwa Thayas, the titular King of Matho, and his wife, Princess Yeshes Wangmo of the Royal House of Zangla. He was recognised by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama as a reincarnation of Bakula Arhat,[4] one of the Sixteen Arhats who in legend were direct disciples of Gautama Buddha. He was a direct descendant of the last King of Ladakh Tsepel Tondup Namgyal. He was, in fact, his great-great-great grandson.[citation needed][5][6][7]

"In 1962 ... allowed the Indian troops to convert a section of his Pethub Monastery into a makeshift military hospital. When a section of people in Kashmir demanded plebiscite, Rinpoche categorically stated that Ladakh would never go to Pakistan and would remain with India."[3]

Later he served in the Parliament of India, and was deeply engaged with welfare, education and rights of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of India. From January 1990 to October 2000, he was India's Ambassador in Mongolia.[8] He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1988.[3] The airport at Leh in the Indian region of Ladakh is named after him.

References

  1. ^ Nils Ole Bubandt; Martijn Van Beek (12 March 2012). Varieties of Secularism in Asia: Anthropological Explorations of Religion, Politics and the Spiritual. ISBN 9781136668630.
  2. ^ "Tributes paid to 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche on 99th Birth anniversary". Reach Ladakh Bulletin. 30 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "Architect of Modern Ladakh". Daily Excelsior. 14 January 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  4. ^ "Tribute to the Venerable Kushok Bakula Rinpoche". FPMT. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  5. ^ Tondup, Dawa. "The History of the Political Ordeal of Ladakh". Reach Ladakh Bulletin. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  6. ^ The History of the Political Ordeal of Ladakh
  7. ^ Tondup, Dawa (6 November 2019). "The History of the Political Ordeal of Ladakh". Reach Ladakh Bulletin.
  8. ^ "Former Ambassadors". Embassy of India Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Retrieved 23 April 2018.

Further reading