The Treasury of Lives



Kelzang Chodron was born in 1901 into the Zhalu Kuzhang family (zhwa lu sku zhang), a prominent family that sent its sons to be abbots of Ngor Ewaṃ Choden (ngor e waM chos ldan) and Nalendra (na len dra) monasteries. Her father was Zhalu Kuzhang Sonam Sengge Wangchuk (bsod nams seng ge dbang phyug, 1873–1928). Her mother's name is not recorded; she died before 1907, when Sonam Sengge Wangchuk married a second time, to Chime Dolkhar ('chi med sgrol dkar, 1895–1966).

Kelzang Chodron had multiple brothers and sisters. The eldest was Trinle Wangdu ('phrin las dbang 'dud, 1894–circa 1946), who became head of the family of the next generation; Won Rinpoche Khyenrab Jigme Gyatso (dbon rin po che mkhyen rab 'jigs med rgya mtsho, 1897–1957); and Jampa Kunzang (ngor mkhan chen 71 byams pa kun bzang, 1907–1940), who served as the Seventy-First Ngor Khenchen. Her siblings from her father's second marriage included a sister, Dechen Yudron (bde chen g.yu sgron, circa 1911–circa 1969); Chogye Trichen Rinpoche (chos rgyas khri chen rin po che, 1920–2007); and Kunzang Tendron (kun bzang bstan sgron, 1927–2009), who was abbess of Rinding Monastery (rin sding/gding dgon), a nunnery associated with Nalendra.[1]

When Kelzang Chodron was about sixteen years old she was betrothed to the young king of Mustang, Jampel Tenzin Dradul ('byams dpal bstan 'dzin dgra 'dul, 1900–1964). The marriage had been arranged by the royal bursar, Pema Wangdu (gzims khang phyag mdzod padma dbang 'dus), who went to Tibet to find his king a bride, as was custom since the late eighteenth century.[2] As the Mustang royal family had long been patrons of the Sakya tradition, the bursar most likely started his inquiries in the prominent Sakya families and thus learned of Kelzang Chodron. Her father is said to have opposed the marriage on the grounds of the distance between their home and Mustang—or perhaps due to the fact that Mustang was no longer as wealthy as it once had been—but Pema Wangdu petitioned the Tibetan government and the family was convinced to accept the arrangement. According to Jackson, who based his account on Chogye Trichen's history of Mustang, the couple was well matched, and during their marriage they renovated and expanded several monasteries in the kingdom, including Tsarang (rtsa rang dgon), Gemi (Gad mi), Lo Gekar (glo ge dkar), and Namgyel Chode (rnam rgyal chos sde), and the old Lo Monthang Palace (glo mon thang pho brang).[3] They also built the Trekhar Palace (khred mkhar pho brang).

In the mid 1920s Kelzang Chodron's parents and younger siblings, who were on pilgrimage in western Tibet, stayed for a time in Mustang.[4] In 1946 she and her husband reciprocated, traveling to Tibet on pilgrimage. They arrived in Lhasa in the midst of the so-called Reting Affair, in which the deeply unpopular Fifth Reting Rinpoche, Tubten Jampel Yeshe Gyeltsen (rwa sgreng 05 thub bstan 'jam dpal ye shes rgyal mtshan, 1912–1947), was arrested after allegedly mounting a coup against his successor as regent in Lhasa. The chaos in the capital drove the royal family to Nalendra, where they spent the summer of 1946.

The couple had nine children, three boys and six girls. The boys were: Wangdu Nyingpo (dbang bdud snying po, 1920–1957/58), Ngawang Jigme Tubten Gyatso (ngag dbang thub bstan 'jigs med rgya mtsho, circa 1926–200), and Jigme Pelbar ('jigs med dpal 'bar, 1930/1932–2016). Their first son convinced his father to step down and instituted political reforms in Mustang before his death. The second son was selected as an abbatial candidate of Ngor Monastery of the Tartse Labrang and educated at Ngor. He returned to Mustang and disrobed, marrying a daughter of a minister. English scholar David Snellgrove (1920–2016) met him in 1956 and gave a sad description of him as a man mourning the loss of his vows and the faith of his congregation.[5] Their third son, who inherited the throne, married Chime Sidrol ('chi med srid sgrol), the daughter of his mother's brother Won Rinpoche Khyenrab Jigme Gyatso.

Kelzang Chodron's daughters, four of whom reached adulthood, all married. The eldest was named Ache Dechen (a ce bde chen). She married the royal bursar, Tsewang Rigdzin (tshe dbang rig 'dzin). The second and third daughters died young. The fourth, Tongdrol (mthong sgrol), married a Mustang aristocrat named Gyurme Rigdzin ('gyur med rig 'dzin). Their son, Ngawang Sonam Chokden (ngor mkhan chen 77 ngag dbang bsod nams mchog ldan, b. 1968), was chosen as Tartse Zhabdrung (thar rtse zhabs drung) and eventually became the Seventy-Seventh Ngor Khenchen. The fifth daughter, Kelzang (bskal bzang) married an aristocrat named Pema Rigdzin (padma rig 'dzin). The sixth daughter, Tsechin Wangmo (tshe sbyin dbang mo), married the widower of her second sister, Tsarang Zimkhang Lobzang (rtsa rang gzim khang blo bzang). Their son, Rinchen Peljor (rin chen dpal 'byor, b. 1971) is Gekar Zhabrung (ge kar zhabs drung), who was chosen by his great-uncle Chogye Trichen to succeed him in leadership of his Nepali monasteries.[6]

In the mid-1950s Jampel Tenzin Dradul stepped down from the throne in favor of his eldest son, and he and Kelzang Chodron moved to the newly-built Trekhar Palace. Wangdu Nyingpo died in 1957 or 1958, and because his widow continued to occupy the main palace in Lo, the former royal couple continued to live in Trekhar, even after Jampel Tenzin Dradul returned to the throne.

Starting in 1959, Kelzang Chodron and her husband hosted her brother, Chogye Trichen, her sister Kunzang Chodron, and their mother, when they fled Tibet in the wake of the Chinese takeover. She passed away in 1963.[7]



[1] Jackson, pp. 667–671.

[2] Snellgrove, 196.

[3] Jackson, pp. 73–74.

[4] Jackson, p. 6.

[5] Jackson, pp. 104, 669; Snellgrove, p. 195.

[6] Jackson, p. 669, 699.

[7] Jackson, pp. 72–73; 103.

 

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Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Alexander Gardner is Director and Chief Editor of the Treasury of Lives. He completed his PhD in Buddhist Studies at the University of Michigan in 2007. He is the author of The Life of Jamgon Kongtrul The Great.

Published August 2023

Bibliography

Craig, Sienna. 2020. The Ends of Kinship: Connecting Himalayan Lives Between Nepal and New York. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

Dhungel, Ramesh K. 2002. The Kingdom of Lo (Mustang): A Historical Study. Kathmandu: Jigme S. P. Bista.

Goldstein, Melvyn. 1989. A History of Modern Tibet, 1913-1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Jackson, David. 1984. The Mollas of Mustang: Historical, Religious, and Oratorical Traditions of the Nepalese-Tibetan Borderland. Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works & Archives.

Jackson, David. 2020. Lama of Lamas: The Life of the Vajra-Master Chogye Trichen Rinpoche. Kathmandu: Vajra Books.

Peissel, Michel. 1967. Mustang, the Forbidden Kingdom. New York: Dutton.

Ramble, Charles. 2008. The Navel of the Demoness: Tibetan Buddhism and Civil Religion in Highland Nepal. London: University of Oxford Press.

Snellgrove, David. 1961. Himalayan Pilgrimage, a Study of Tibetan Religion by a Traveller through Western Nepal. Oxford: Bruno Cassirer.

Tucci, Giuseppe. 1956. Preliminary Report on Two Scientific Expeditions in Nepal. Rome: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente.

Tucci, Giuseppe. 1977. Journey to Mustang, 1952. Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar.