Tradition and Modernity in Tibet and the Himalayas

The project aims to make a detailed study on the tradition and modernity concept, through the analysis of the social, cultural and environmental life in the remote areas of Tibet and Himalaya. The project focuses on two strands of work: the study of a Tibetan woman-lama (Samding Dorje Phagmo) and her reincarnations, and the preservation of Tibetan-Mongolian rare books and manuscripts.  Both projects address key aspects of the preservation of Tibetan cultural heritage. In 2007 Hildegard Diemberger carried out two research campaigns in Tibet and Bhutan that led to the acquisition of new materials concerning the Dorje Phagmo tradition and also published a monograph on the Dorje Phagmo female reincarnation line. She now envisages a new publication on the life of Chokyi Dronma (1422-1455), the first of the female reincarnations, focused on unique and unknown sources of the Bodongpa tradition and on the reproduction of ancient mural paintings. To this, a study on the relationship between sacred landscape and mountaineering (Chinese and Tibetan) linked to the Samding Dorje Pagmo project has been added, since the deity Dorje Phagmo has been identified in many different elements of the sacred landscape in Tibet.