Kushok Thiksey Nawang Chamba Stanzin

Kushok Thiksey Nawang Chamba Stanzin, the Thiksey Rinpoche, is head of Thiksey Monastery near Leh and a leading figure in the religious, social and public life of modern Ladakh. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2023, from Ladakh ^[1].

Recognised as a child

He was born on 20 May 1943 in Chuchot village in Leh ^[2]. At five he was recognised by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the Thiksey Rinpoche, and at ten he was sent to study at the Gomang college of Drepung Monastery in Tibet, where he stayed until 1959 ^[2].

Reforming the monasteries

In the 1980s he set up monastic schools and a library at Thiksey and Diskit monasteries, a common kitchen giving free meals to resident monks, full cover for their medical costs and a pension-like fund for older monks ^[2]. These steps changed how Ladakh’s monasteries were run while keeping their old traditions ^[2]. As president of the Ladakh Gonpa Association from 1990 to 1997, he made it a self-supporting body for all the region’s monasteries ^[2].

He paid for a 49-foot statue of Maitreya Buddha at Thiksey in 1983, the first of its kind in Ladakh, and another at Diskit in 2010, both built by local artisans and now visited by many pilgrims and tourists ^[2].

Schools and public office

He founded the Lamzang School at Thiksey in 1989 and later a library and learning centre with computers and internet access, which runs free winter classes open to students of all faiths ^[2]. From 1998 to 2002 he was a member of the Rajya Sabha, the first from Ladakh to sit in the house ^[2]. In 2021 he received Ladakh’s highest civilian award ^[2].