The Tai Situpa: A Title from 1407, a Teacher of Bhutan's Third King

A title from the Ming court

In 1407 the Yongle Emperor of Ming China received the 5th Karmapa at Nanjing. That year the title Tai Situ — “Grand Situ” — was conferred on Chökyi Gyaltsen (1377–1448), a close disciple of the Karmapa and abbot of Karma Gön in eastern Tibet. His incarnations have borne it since, as one of the principal lineage-holders of the Karma Kagyu, alongside the Karmapa himself. The full form is Kenting Tai Situ.

Situ Panchen

The most celebrated holder is the 8th, Situ Panchen Chökyi Jungne (1700–1774). With the permission of the King of Derge he founded Palpung Monastery in 1727, which became the Tai Situpas’ great seat and a centre of learning for all of eastern Tibet. He edited the Kangyur and Tengyur — the Tibetan Buddhist canon — for the Derge printing house, wrote a commentary on Tibetan grammar still studied today, practised medicine, and revived the Karma Gadri school of painting.

The Tai Situpas and Bhutan

The 11th Tai Situ, Pema Wangchok Gyalpo (1886–1952), recognised and enthroned the 16th Karmapa. Among his disciples was His Majesty Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, the Third King of Bhutan.

The 12th Tai Situpa

Pema Dönyö Nyingche Wangpo was born in 1954 to a farming family in Derge, Kham. Identified through a letter of the 16th Karmapa, he was enthroned at Palpung at eighteen months old. In 1959, as a young boy, he left Tibet — first for Bhutan — before joining the 16th Karmapa at Rumtek in Sikkim, where he trained.

In the mid-1970s he founded Palpung Sherabling at Bir in Himachal Pradesh, India, which has grown to some thousand monks. He founded the Maitreya Institute for inter-religious dialogue in 1983 and led a Pilgrimage for Active Peace from 1989, has taught across Europe and North America since the early 1980s, and is the author of several books on Mahamudra meditation. In 1992 he played a central part in the recognition of the Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje.

In Bhutan

In November 2025 the Tai Situpa bestowed a longevity empowerment in Thimphu during the Global Peace Prayer Festival. On 30 August 2026 he came to Sarpang Dzong, where the monks were preparing the relics for Project 108. He offered sacred relics for the 108 Jangchub Chortens and presented to His Majesty The King two ringsel — relic pearls associated with the Buddhas Shakya Thupa and Yoelsung — said to be more than nine hundred years old. Their Majesties and the Royal Children offered prayers with him. The full list of masters is in Project 108 Masters.