Namdroling Monastery
Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Bylkuppe, Karnataka, India
The Thegchog Namdrol Shedrub Dargye Ling (བོད་ཡིག ཐེག་མཆོག་རྣམ་གྲོལ་བཤད་སྒྲུབ་དར་རྒྱས་གླིང་།) (Wylie: theg mchog rnam grol bshad sgrub dar rgyas gling), informally known as Namdroling Monastery (or ನಮ್ಡ್ರೋಲಿಂಗ್ ವಿಹಾರ, Namdroling Vihara) is the largest teaching center of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in the world. Located in Bylakuppe, part of the Mysuru district of the state of Karnataka, the monastery is home to a sangha community of more than five thousand monks and nuns and qualified teachers, a junior high school named Yeshe Wodsal Sherab Raldri Ling, a Buddhist philosophy college or shedra for both monks and nuns, a home for the elderly, and a hospital.
History
The monastery was established by the 11th throneholder of the Palyul lineage, the 3rd Drubwang Padma Norbu Rinpoche in 1963. It was founded after his 1959 escape from Tibet which was prompted by the 1957 arrest of Palyul's then-head Khenpo, the 4th Karma Kuchen; he was tortured to death by China's forces by 1958.
The Palyul Monastery and it 400 branches is considered one of the Nyingma school's "Six Mother Monasteries" in Tibet, before China's forces demolished the monastery and its branches in the late 1950s. Palyul Monastery's reconstruction by Penor Rinpoche began in the late 1970s, and by 1983 Penor Rinpoche was again giving teachings and ordaining sangha members in Tibet.
Namdroling Monastery is considered a seat of Palyul Monastery's lineage in exile. Its full formal name is Thegchog Namdrol Shedrub Dargyeling, or Namdroling for short. Its initial structure was a temple constructed from bamboo, covering an area of approximately 80 square feet (7.4 m2); its founder Penor Rinpoche lived in a tent. Namdroling was constructed on the jungle land that the Indian government granted to Tibetans in exile for their resettlement.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Namdroling Monastery” as tibetan Buddhist monastery in Bylkuppe, Karnataka, India. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as tibetan Buddhist monastery in Bylkuppe, Karnataka, India. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3335448. The first chronological checks are 1963, 1959, 1957 and 1958.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Namdroling Monastery”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Namdroling Monastery primary sources, Namdroling Monastery archive and Namdroling research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Namdroling Monastery”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Namdroling Monastery” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.