Ganden

An oversized, beautifully laid out celebration of Ganden Monastery and the monks who called it home.

Ganden Monastery was founded in 1409 in Tibet by Je Tsongkhapa, the great philosopher-saint of the Gelug school, and for more than five hundred years it served as a center of learning and thought. It could house as many as five thousand monks and was the site of Tsongkhapa’s tomb. And in 1959, it was completely destroyed by the Chinese army.

Ganden: A Joyful Land offers an intimate look at the lives of the last remaining generation of monks to have studied at Ganden: the joyful routines of their lives of study and devotion, the heartbreaking decision to flee their home in the face of an invading army, and their strength and resolution as they rebuild Ganden anew in India. Included are scenes from when the young Dalai Lama traveled to Ganden to debate the monks there as his final exam for his geshe degree—just before the Chinese invasion.

This is a tribute to a lost world—and the indomitable spirit of its people.