Namgyal Institute of Tibetology

Namgyal Institute of Tibetology - Museum of Tibetan iconography

Author: TG Contributor
Date: 2020-10-19

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Namgyal Institute of Tibetology (NIT) is a Tibet museum in Gangtok, Sikkim, India, named after the 11th Chogyal of Sikkim, Sir Tashi Namgyal. The NIT library holds one of the largest collections of Tibetan works in the world outside Tibet and a museum of Tibetan iconography and religious art.

The foundation stone of the museum was laid by the 14th Dalai Lama on 10 February 1957. On October 1, 1958, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India, inaugurated the Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology. Sir Tashi Namgyal, the then Maharaja of Sikkim, changed its name to the "Namgyal Research Institute of Tibetology". The institute’s main building is an imposing monument and a splendid example of Sikkimese architecture.

The institute employs researchers and one of its new research programs is a project which seeks to document the social history of Sikkim's approximately 60 monasteries and record this on a computer. Another project seeks to digitize and document old and rare photographs of Sikkim for knowledge distribution. Khempo Dhazar served as head of the Sheda, a Nyingma college attached to the Institute, for six years.

Namgyal Institute of Tibetology

Namgyal Institute of Tibetology

The site on which the institute was established was donated by the late Chogyal (king) of Sikkim Sir Tashi Namgyal. The foundation stone of the institute was laid by the 14th Dalai Lama on the 10th of February 1957 and the institute was declared open by the late Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on the 1st of October 1958.

The museum, located on the ground floor of the institute, contains a rare collection of statues, ritual objects, traditional art objects, thangkas (painted, woven, and embroidered scrolls), and ancient manuscripts in Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, and Lepcha. The exhibition is dominated by a majestic silver image of Manjushri – the Bodhisattva of knowledge – that was brought from Tibet.

It has published the Bulletin of Tibetology since 1964 and numerous books over the years. There are even shops where you can buy beautiful handicrafts made by Tibetan people.


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