DHARAMSHALA, JULY 30: Thousands of Buddhist monks and followers gathered at the Palyul Monastery in Dege County in Kham for the enthronement ceremony of the reincarnation of Penor Rinpoche, the former head of the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Five years after the passing away of His Eminence Penor Rinpoche in 2009, his monastery in exile announced Pema Dorjee from Dhagpo as his reincarnation last year.
Palyul’s seniormost lama in Tibet, Tulku Thubten Zangpo Rinpoche, found the reincarnation at Leten Tramo Drag or Dung Lung Tramo Drag, a sacred location in Dhagpo near Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, based on a “prophecy letter” sent by Jadrel Rinpoche.
A traditional enthronement ceremony of Penor Rinpoche’s yangsi (reincarnation), investing him as Palyul’s 12th Throneholder, took place at Palyul Monastery in Tibet on Monday though an announcement was made last year that it would take place on July 31, coinciding with the choekhor dhuechen, (Buddha’s first sermon)
Penor Rinpoche held the position of the head of Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism until his health deteriorated leading to his demise on March 27, 2009.
Kyabjé Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche was born in 1932 in Powo region of Kham, Eastern Tibet. Rinpoche became the 11th throne-holder of Palyul, one of six “mother monasteries” in Tibet’s oldest Buddhist tradition, Nyingma. He established Namdroling Monastery in Bylakuppe Tibetan settlement in 1963 with only a handful of monks.
