Larung Gar Buddhist Academy

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In 1980, Kyabje Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok founded Larung Gar, which was officially named by the 10th Panchen Lama in 1987 as Serta Larung Five Science Buddhist Academy, also known of in Tibetan: བླ་རུང་ལྔ་རིག་ནང་བསྟན་སློབ་གླིང་།, ZYPY: Serta Larung Ngarig Nangdän Lobling, (Chinese: 喇荣五明佛学院; pinyin: Larong Wuming foxueyuan), located in the Larung Valley (喇荣沟) near the township of Larung in Sêrtar County, Garzê Prefecture, Sichuan Province, known of as Kham. The Serta Larung Five Science Buddhist Academy grew from Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok's mountain retreat. The purpose of Larung Gar's Academy is to provide an ecumenical training in Tibetan Buddhism and to meet the need for renewal of meditation, ethics, and scholarship all over Tibet in the wake of China's Cultural Revolution of 1966-76.^[1]

Despite the remote location, an ancient prophecy by the first Dodrupchen Rinpoche named its founder and described its location, and the site is considered sacred.^[2] Larung Gar's Academy grew from less than a dozen students gathering around Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok's home, to a community of more than a hundred students living in mud huts by 1981, as reported by International Campaign for Tibet.^[3]

According to several Tibetan advocacy organizations, the Academy continued growing as monks, nuns, and lay students relocated and built residences, to become one of the largest and most influential ecumenical centers for the study of Tibetan Buddhism in the world.

By 2001, the Academy grew to number 8,500 monks and nuns, with an additional 1,000 Chinese students, and more lay persons.^[3] By 2016, the number of official residents had grown to 10,000, while the unofficial estimated number was between 20,000 to 40,000 people, according to a joint 2017 report by Tibet Watch and Free Tibet.^[2]