Museum


The Museum, located on the first floor of the Library, originated as a repository of art and artefacts offered to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It was laid out in consultation with the National Museum of India and opened to the public in 1974.

The Museum has expanded steadily since those early days and now exhibits one of the most important collections of Tibetan art in the world. Major exhibits include a three-dimensional carved wooden mandala of Avalokiteshvara and a thread-cross mandala of Arya Tara, both commissioned by the LTWA; a bronze statue of Avalokiteshvara commissioned by the 13th Dalai Lama, said to stand as tall as he did; and a contemporary life-size statue of Je Tsongkhapa.

RELEVANT CONTACTS

Tenzin Choezom
Museum In charge
Contact

QUICK STATS

Data from 2009:

  • 1,000 statues and Thangka (scroll) paintings
  • Several hundred reliquary and other centuries-old ritual objects.
  • Three-dimensional carved wood mandala of Avalokteshvara.