China/Tibet: Qoigyijabu (Gyancain Norbu), recognised as the 11th Panchen Lama by the People's Republic of China. The present (11th) incarnation of the Panchen Lama is a matter of controversy: the People's Republic of China asserts it is Qoigyijabu (Gyancain Norbu), while the current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (Bstan-'dzin Rgya-mtsho), named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima on May 14, 1995. The latter vanished from public eye shortly after being named. Chinese authorities state that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima has been taken into protective custody, but he has not been seen since.

---

Trinley Thaye Dorje is the son of the 3rd Mipham Rinpoche of Junyung Monastery, one of several persons believed to be a reincarnation of Ju Mipham, an important lama of the Nyingmapa school, and Dechen Wangmo, the daughter of a noble family descended from King Gesar of Ling. At the age of six months the boy is reported to have started telling people that he was the Karmapa. In 1988 Shamar Rinpoche went on a secret visit to Lhasa to investigate whether Thaye Dorje was the reincarnation of the Karmapa, because, he said, the boy appeared to him in a dream. In March 1994, Thaye Dorje and his family escaped from Tibet to Nepal and then to India, where Shamar Rinpoche formally recognized him as the 17th Karmapa.

---

Size: 3500px × 5266px
Photo credit: © Pictures From History / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: asia, asian, bhutan, buddhism, buddhist, china, chinese, controversy, dorje, east, gyancain, historical, history, images, india, jewel, kagyu, karma, karmapa, ladakh, lama, lamaism, leader, lotus, mahayana, mongol, mongolia, monk, norbu, panchen, peoples, photo, photograph, pictures, portrait, prc, qoigyijabu, religion, republic, school, shamanism, sikkim, thaye, tibet, tibetan, trinley