The Treasury of Lives

The Twentieth Ganden Tripa, Chodrak Zangpo (dga' ldan khri pa 20 chos grags bzang po) was born in Takpu, Uto (dbus stod stag phu) in 1493, the water-ox year of the eighth sexagenary cycle. He was admitted at a young age in the Takpu Chode (stag phu chos sde) where he became a monk and received the basic monastic training and education in reading and writing, and learning the prayer texts by heart, and so forth. He then thoroughly studied the traditional texts of both sutra and tantra and served as the lobpon in Gyume College for studies in tantra. Thereafter he was appointed to the lobpon of Jangtse College of Ganden Monastery (dga' ldan byang rtse grwa tshang).

In 1552, at the age of sixty, Takpu Chodrak Zangpo was enthroned as the Twentieth Ganden Tripa. He served the post for seven years, giving comprehensive teachings on both sutra and tantra and leading the religious activities and events of Ganden Monastery in particular and of the Geluk tradition in general, including the annual Great Prayer Festival of Lhasa, the Lhasa Monlam Chenmo. He created a wonderful set of applique tankas of the Sixteen Arhats ('phags pa gnas brtan bcu drug).

Two years later Trichen Chodrak Zangpo was also enthroned to the seat of fourteenth Abbot of Sera Tekchenling (se ra theg chen gling) in 1554.

He retired from the post of Ganden Tripa and settled at Dewachen Monastery in Nyetang (snye thang bde ba can) near Lhasa but soon thereafter he passed into nirvana, on the tenth day of ninth month in the earth-sheep year of the ninth sexagenary cycle, at the age of sixty-seven in 1559. A silver victory stupa (rnam rgyal mchod rten) was built in his memory and placed in the second position to the right of the Nguldong Rinpoche (dngul gdong rin po che), the Great Precious Silver Reliquary of Ganden.