GADEN SHARTSE MONASTIC COLLEGE
Gaden Shartse Monastic College is situated amid lush green hills and jungle in the remote countryside in Mundgod, southern India. It was founded in 1969 as an effort to re-establish one of the great monastic traditions of Tibet.
A small group of elder monks and fifteen young boys, all of whom had managed to escape the destruction in Tibet, settled on land given to them by the Indian government in Mundgod, Karnataka.
Today the college is at the forefront of the revival of Tibetan Monastic education, with more than 1800 resident students, teachers, scholars, and spiritual practitioners. More than 70% of the members are between the ages of 10 and 25 and 80% of these were born in Tibet. To this day, young monks arrive at the Monastery weekly from Tibet and India, seeking shelter and education.
Due to the success of the academic programs and the quality of the teachers at the monastery, Gaden Shartse has established a reputation as being the leader in the field of Mahayana Buddhism and Tibetan studies in the Gelug tradition – the tradition of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
