The Historical Study and Documentation of the Pad Gling Traditions in Bhutan

This research project aims to undertake a historical study of the Pad gling tradition and its establishments, focusing on the three principal institutions of Pad gling reincarnations: the Pad gling gSung spruls, who are considered reincarnations of Padma Gling pa himself and were based in lHa lung in Tibet and gTam zhing in Bhutan; the lHa lung Thugs sras, who are incarnations of Padma Glingpa’s son Zla ba rGyal mtshan (b.1499); and the sGang steng sPrul sku, who are considered reincarnations of Padma Gling pa’s grandson Padma 'Phrin las (1564-1642?). These three incarnation lines have played prominent roles in the Bhutanese society and Himalayan history and thrive to this day.

In reconstructing the history and assessing the significance of the Pad gling tradition and its leading institutions, the project shall:
- study and record the development of the Padma Gling pa institutions in Bhutan
- assess the religious, cultural and political role of the institution and its members in Bhutanese history
- explore the roles of Pad gling heirarchs in relations between Bhutan and Britain
- assess the significance of the Padma Gling pa institutions in the greater Tibetan Buddhist world
- consolidate the entire textual corpus connected with the Padma Gling pa institutions by creating a complete xml catalogue, which can eventually be incorporated into the Union catalogue that is being built by the British Library
- digitize the entire literature connected with the Padma Gling pa tradition into searchable documents that will be available to international scholars
- preserve the original manuscripts and wood block prints in digital surrogates in RAW, TIFF or JPEG formats which will be deposited in the local archives and the British Library and thereby further our knowledge of Himalayan region and the Buddhist world.