Tri Rinpoche

See photographs below

dga' ldan khri rin po che

Minyagpa Yishey Wangden

mi nyag pa ye shes dbang ldan

Ti Rimpoche, Tri Rimphoche of Ganden, Ganden Tri Rimphoche

Born 1872

Tri Rim-po-chhe of Ganden. Personal name Minyagpa Yishey Wangden. Born 1872. Is a Khampa by race and was appointed a Tri Rim-po-chhe in 1933. This post, which ranks very high in the hierarchy, is held for five years only by a monk chosen from all Tibet for pre-eminence in learning and piety. It is the highest and most respected rank to which a monk, who is not an incarnation, can rise. Every Tri Rim-po-chhe holds the post for five years and after this period he is relieved and a new Tri Rim-po-chhe is appointed. When there is no Dalai Lama, the Tri Rim-po-chhe is often appointed as Regent of Tibet. In 1903-04, when the late Dalai Lama ran away towards China, at the approach of the British expedition, then the Tri Rim-po-chhe acted on his behalf, and signed and sealed the 1904 Treaty between the British and the Tibetan Governments. The Tri Rim-po-chhe is the spiritual successor of Tsong-ka-pa (the Reformer of the Yellow sect in Tibet) and occupies the ecclesiastical throne of the great Monastery of Ganden, 25 miles North-East of Lhasa.

Page references from Who's Who in Tibet

1938 (page 73) 1942 (page 36-37) 1945 (page 45) 1949 (page 135)

This entry is from "Who Was Who in Tibet?" Copyright Frank Drauschke, Facts & Files, Berlin