The Treasury of Lives

Gombojab Tsybikov, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Kumbum Jampa Ling is a major Geluk monastery in Amdo built on the site of Tsongkhapa's birth. The monastery was built around the tree that marked this site. Construction began in 1560 by a monk named Rinchen Tsondru Gyeltsen around a stupa that Tsongkhapa's mother is said to have built in 1379. In 1583 the Third Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso, stayed there and requested the monk to expand it. Over the subsequent centuries, the monastic complex developed and expanded into one of Tibet's great monasteries. The Cheso, Ngago and Taktser incarnation lines all have seats there. Kumbum has four colleges: the Tantric College, which was built by Choje Lekpa Gyatso in 1649; the Debate College, built in 1612 by Duldzin Ozer Gyatso; the Medical College, which opened in 1725; and the Kālacakra College, established in 1820.  The monastery has been sacked and rebuilt several times in its history. 

 

Sources

Dorje, Gyurme. 2009. Tibet Handbook. Bath: Footprint, pp. 691-693.

Gruschke, Andreas. 2001. The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer Provinces, Volume 1, the Qinghai Part of Amdo. Bangkok: White Lotus Press, pp. 21-26.

Ryavec, Karl E. 2015. A Historical Atlas of Tibet. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 123-125.

Kumbum Jampa Ling

Incarnation Lines

Abbots & Officers

Trichen

1. First Trichen 'od zer rgya mtsho 1621 - 1623
2. Second Trichen chos rgya mtsho 1617 -
3. Third Trichen 'od zer rgya mtsho 1621 - 1623
4. Fourth Trichen shes rab dpal bzang 1623 - 1630
5. Fifth Trichen rnam rgyal dpal 'byor 1630 - 1638
6. Sixth Trichen bkra shis don grub 1638 - 1642
7. Seventh Trichen don grub rgya mtsho 1642 - 1648
8. Eighth Trichen dpal ldan rgya mtsho 1648 - 1653
9. Ninth Trichen bsod nams rin chen 1653 - 1658
10. Tenth Trichen chos bkra shis 1658 - 1663
11. Eleventh Trichen byams pa dpal bzang 1663 - 1668
12. Twelfth Trichen 'jam dbyangs dpal 'byor 1668 - 1671
13. Thirteenth Trichen bstan pa dar rgyas 1671 - 1676
14. Fourteenth Trichen yon tan blo gros 1676 - 1681
15. Fifteenth Trichen sangs rgyas lhun grub 1681 - 1686
16. Sixteenth Trichen shes rab bzang po 1686 - 1691
17. Seventeenth Trichen Lobzang Dorje 1691 - 1696
18. Eighteenth Trichen blo bzang bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan 1696 - 1713
19. Nineteenth Trichen 'jam dbyangs rgyal mtshan 1713 - 1718
20. Twentieth Trichen blo bzang don grub 1718 - 1724
21. Twenty-first Trichen tshul khrims rin chen 1724 - 1729
22. Twenty-second Trichen blo bzang dar rgyas 1729 - 1731
23. Twenty-third Trichen shes rab chos 'byor 1731 - 1734
24. Twenty-fourth Trichen dge 'dun don grub 1734 - 1741
25. Twenty-fifth Trichen ngag dbang bstan pa 1741 - 1746
26. Twenty-sixth Trichen ngag dbang bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan 1746 - 1749
27. Twenty-seventh Trichen blo gros dar rgyas 1749 - 1752
28. Twenty-eighth Trichen ngag dbang thub bstan dbang phyug 1777 - 1780
29. Twenty-ninth Trichen Yeshe Kelzang 1762 - 1764
30. Thirtieth Trichen Konchok Jigme Wangpo 1764 - 1768
31. Thirty-first Trichen grags pa rgyal mtshan 1768 - 1777
33. Thirty-third Trichen ngag dbang bstan pa 1780 - 1785
34. Thirty-fourth Trichen ngag dbang tshul khrims dar rgyas 1785 - 1789
35. Thirty-fifth Trichen Lobzang Chokyi Nyima 1789 - 1793
36. Thirty-sixth Trichen blo bzang bstan pa'i nyi ma 1793 - 1798
37. Thirty-seventh Trichen dkon mchog rnam rgyal 1798 - 1802
38. Thirty-eighth Trichen tshul khrims bstan pa'i nyi ma 1802 - 1804
39. Thirty-ninth Trichen skal bzang thub bstan rab rgyas rgya mtsho 1804 - 1807
40. Fortieth Trichen blo bzang 'jam dbyangs rgya mtsho 1807 - 1808
41. Forty-first Trichen bsod nams bstan 'dzin 1807 - 1810
42. Forty-second Trichen blo bzang dbang phyug rgya mtsho 1810 -
43. Forty-third Trichen chos bstan 'dzin rgya mtsho 1806 -
44. Forty-fourth Trichen Shingza Paṇḍita Lobzang Dargye Gyatso 1813 - 1815
45. Firty-fifth Trichen ngag dbang bshad sgrub bstan pa'i nyi ma 1816 -
46. Forty-sixth Trichen Lobzang Khedrub Nyima 1819 -
47. Forty-seventh Trichen ye shes thub bstan rgya mtsho 1820 -
48. Forty-eighth Trichen blo bzang bstan pa'i nyi ma 1822 -
49. Forty-ninth Trichen ngag dbang chos kyi nyi ma 1824 -
50. Fiftieth Trichen skal bzang bkra shis rgya mtsho 1828 -
51. Fifty-first Trichen ngag dbang 'jam dbyangs dbang rgyal 1830 -
52. Fifty-second Trichen blo bzang bkra shis nyi ma 1833 -
53. Fifty-third Trichen blo bzang bstan pa'i nyi ma 1845 -
54. Fify-fourth Trichen bskal bzang bstan 'dzin rgya mtsho 1846 -
55. Fifty-fifth Trichen Tubten Jigme Gyatso 1850 -
56. Fifty-sixth Trichen skal bzang bstan 'dzin rgya mtsho 1851 -
57. Fifty-seventh Trichen skal bzang dar rgyas rgya mtsho 1855 -
58. Fifty-eighth Trichen blo bzang bstan pa'i dbang phyug 1861 -
59. Fify-ninth Trichen blo bzang tshul khrims bsam gtan 1864 -
60. Sixtieth Trichen dpal ldan bstan pa'i nyi ma 1865 -
61. Sixty-first Trichen ye shes mkhas grub nyi ma 1866 -
62. Sixty-second Trichen bsod nams bstan pa'i nyi ma 1868 -
63. Thirty-third Trichen blo bzang tshul khrims rgya mtsho 1874 -
64. Sixty-fourth Trichen ngag dbang 'jam dpal bstan pa'i nyi ma 1874 -
65. Sixty-fifth Trichen bstan 'dzin mchog ldan tshul khrims rgya mtsho 1877 -
66. Sixty-sixth Trichen blo bzang thub bstan 'jigs med rgya mtsho 1880 -
66. Sixty-sixth Trichen Lobzang Tsultrim Jigme Gyatso 1892 - 1894
67. Sixty-seventh Trichen blo bzang thub bstan rgya mtsho 1882 -
68. Sixty-eighth Trichen Kelzang Tubten Wangchuk 1883 -
69. Sixty-ninth Trichen skal bzang tshul khrims bstan pa'i nyi ma 1884 -
70. Seventieth Trichen dge 'dun bstan pa'i nyi ma 1886 -
71. Seventy-first Trichen Lobzang Jangchub Tenpei Dronme 1888 -
72. Seventy-second Trichen blo bzang bstan pa yar 'phel 1890 -
73. Seventy-third Trichen Lobzang Tsultrim Jigme Gyatso 1892 - 1894
74. Seventy-fourth Trichen ye shes tshul khrims rgya mtsho 1894 -
75. Seventy-fifth Trichen blo bzang tshul khrims rgya mtsho -
76. Seventy-sixth Trichen blo bzang skal bzang rgya mtsho -
77. Seventy-seventh Trichen sbyin pa don grub rgya mtsho 1901 -
78. Seventy-eighth Trichen dge 'dun dam chos rgyal mtshan 1903 -
Trichen Lobzang Jangchub Tendzin Gyatso 1943 -
Trichen dge 'dun legs bshad bstan pa rgya mtsho 1946 -

Biographies

There are 42 related biographies