Tshering Dorje Explained

Tshering Dorje
Birth Date:April 1936
Birth Place:Guskiar village, Lahaul tehsil, Kullu Sub-division, Kangra district, Punjab Province, British India
Death Date:13 November 2020 (aged 86)
Death Place:Mandi, Himachal Pradesh
Nationality:Indian
Education:Tholing monastery, Western Tibet
Sa-ngag-choling monastery, Central Tibet
Occupation:Cultural historian
Known For:Expertise on the cultural history of the Buddhist regions of the Western Himalayas
Role in the construction of the Atal Tunnel

Tshering Dorje (April 1936 - November 13, 2020; also spelled Tsering Dorje and Chhering Dorje) was a cultural historian from Himachal Pradesh, India. He was regarded as an authority on the cultural traditions and histories of the Lahaul and Spiti district and some neighboring regions. He also played an important role in bringing about the construction of the 9.02 km-long, high-altitude Atal Tunnel.

Life and career

Dorje was born in village Guskiar of Gahar valley, Lahaul, Kullu tehsil, Kangra district, Punjab Province, British India - later a part of the Lahaul and Spiti district, Himachal Pradesh state. His family was Tibetan Buddhist and practiced agropastoralism. He received his schooling in Urdu medium at Keylong. Then, following family tradition, Dorje went to Tibet to train as a Lama. He first studied Tibetan language and Mahamudra at the Tholing monastery in western Tibet, and then went to the Sa-ngag-choling monastery in central Tibet to receive Kagyu teachings. However, he had to leave his education unfinished and return to Lahaul following political unrest in Tibet due to Tibet's annexation by the People's Republic of China. Following the creation of the Lahaul and Spiti district in 1960, Dorje got a job at the office of the Deputy Collector of the district at Keylong as a teacher of 'Bhoti' (Tibetan). In his youth, he had a meeting with the Russian Tibetologist George Roerich, which was influential in shaping his scientific and creative pursuits. After many years, Dorje was promoted to the position of Public Relations officer of the district. Following retirement, he divided his time between his native village Guskiar and Kullu.[1] [2] [3] [4]

Dorje died of covid-19 on November 13, 2020, at Nerchowk Medical College, Mandi.[5]

Influence

Research and scholarship

Despite his limited formal education, Dorje came to be known for his extensive knowledge of western and Trans-Himalayan regions including Ladakh, Lahaul, Spiti, and Kinnaur.[6] In Lahaul and Spiti district and neighboring regions, he was widely referred to as an 'encyclopedia of the Himalayas'.[7] He was regarded as an expert on Tibetan language; Tibetan Buddhist scriptures; the Buddhist, Bon, and Hindu cultural traditions of the Lahaul and Spiti district; the Buddhist and pre-Buddhist history of Tibet, and the historical and cultural interrelations between the western Himalayas, Tibet, and Central Asia. Dorje also did some research on the Zhang Zhung language.[8] He undertook numerous journeys on foot in the Himalayas.[9]

Dorje was closely associated with the International Roerich Memorial Trust in Naggar for several decades. 1980 onwards, he collaborated with the Russian Indologist and Roerich scholar Ludmila Shaposhnikova over various research interests. In 2006, Dorje founded the Roerich Society of Lahaul. By 2017, he was instrumental in reconstructing the summer study of the famous Russian Orientalist, philosopher, painter, and explorer Nicholas Roerich in Kyelong (originally built in 1930-32 and destroyed by a snowstorm in 2012).[10]

Dorje wrote a number of articles in Hindi and Tibetan. Over the years, he guided numerous researchers doing research in the Kullu and the Lahaul and Spiti districts. This list includes, among others, the Tibetologists John Vincent Bellezza and Tashi Tsering,[11] [12] [13] and the anthropologist Himika Bhattacharya.[14] He spoke at many scholarly and literary seminars and at other cultural events in Kullu.[15] [16] [17] [18] He was also occasionally sought by the media for comments over current developments in the Kullu valley.[19] [20]

In 2012, Dorje served as the Vice-President of the Bharatiya Itihaas Sankalan Samiti in Himachal Pradesh.[21]

In 2018, Dorje was appointed to the General Council of the Himachal Pradesh Academy as the representative for the Lahaul and Spiti district.[22]

Role in Atal Tunnel construction

Over 1999-2000, alongside fellow Lahauli Tashi Dawa (aka 'Gopal Arjun'), Tshering Dorje played a key role in floating the idea of constructing a tunnel below the Rohtang Pass to then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This would enable round-the-year road access to the Lahaul valley, which otherwise got cut-off from road access for up to six months every year due to the closure of the Rohtang Pass by snows. Dawa and Dorje were part of a delegation of four from Himachal that met PM Vajpayee several times over two years to push their proposal to get a tunnel made under the pass. This eventually culminated in the construction of the Atal Tunnel, which opened in October 2020. [23] [24] [25]

Others

Bibliography

References

  1. Web site: 2017-04-07 . Tsering Dorje . 2023-01-09 . Roerich In Lahul . en.
  2. Web site: November 13, 2020 . To the Blessed Memory of Tsering Dorje… . 2023-01-09 . irmtkullu.com.
  3. Web site: Gill . Manohar Singh . November 22, 2020 . Manohar Singh Gill remembers Tshering Dorje, his Lahaul-Spiti brother . 2023-01-09 . Tribuneindia News Service . en.
  4. News: Odenheimer . Micha . October 28, 2004 . Unknown Faces of Tibet . en . Haaretz . 2023-01-11.
  5. Web site: Thakur . Arvind . November 13, 2020 . एनसाइक्लोपीडिया ऑफ हिमालय के नाम से विख्यात छेरिंग दोरजे का निधन . 2023-01-09 . Amar Ujala . hi.
  6. Web site: Thakur . Kesang . December 3, 2020 . Tshering Dorje – FILMING लाहुल . 2023-01-09 . en-US.
  7. Web site: Sharma . Rajesh . November 30, 2020 . Cherring Dorje: चेतना की नदी छेरिंग दोर्जे, कुल्लू या लाहुल ही नहीं, संपूर्ण हिमालय से सम्मान पाने वाले शख्‍स थे दोर्जे . 2023-01-09 . Dainik Jagran . hi.
  8. Web site: November 13, 2020 . In Memoriam . 2023-01-11 . Roerich In Lahul . en.
  9. Web site: November 20, 2021 . Tsering Dorje death anniversary एनसाइक्लोपीडिया ऑफ हिमालय की पुण्यतिथि पर ढालपुर में कार्यक्रम आयोजित . 2023-01-09 . ETV Bharat News . hi.
  10. Web site: Roerich In Lahul . 2023-01-09 . Roerich In Lahul . en.
  11. Web site: Belleza . John Vincent . 2008 . Supplementary Journal 1990 . 2023-01-11 . tibetarcheology.com . en-US.
  12. Tsering . Tashi . 2013 . On the Unknown History of a Himalayan Buddhist Enclave: Spiti Valley before the 10th Century . Current Issues and Progress in Tibetan Studies . 51.
  13. Tsering . Tashi . June 2012 . A historical overview of education and social change in Spiti Valley in India . Ladakh Studies . 28 . 10.
  14. Book: Bhattacharya, Himika . Narrating Love and Violence: Women Contesting Caste, Tribe, and State in Lahaul, India . 2017 . Rutgers University Press . 978-0-8135-8955-8 . en.
  15. Web site: Sharma . Ambika . September 7, 2012 . CM says HP to be carbon-neutral . 2023-01-09 . www.tribuneindia.com.
  16. Web site: March 30, 2015 . Kavi sammelan on Birshu mela . 2023-01-09 . Tribuneindia News Service . en.
  17. Web site: 115th Anniversary of George Roerich Marked in the Himalayan Roerich Estate . 2023-01-11 . spb-icr.ru.
  18. Web site: Russia-India: the Art, Philosophy and Culture . 2023-01-11 . irmtkullu.com.
  19. Web site: November 21, 2012 . Treasure of gold coins . 2023-01-09 . www.tribuneindia.com.
  20. Web site: Bodh . Anand . August 17, 2018 . 'Rohtang tunnel Atal Bihari Vajpayee's biggest gift to state' Shimla News - Times of India . 2023-01-09 . The Times of India . en.
  21. Web site: 2012-09-06 . CM Stresses for the need to preserve Environment . 2023-01-09 . The News Himachal . en-US.
  22. Web site: 2019 . Himachal kala sanskriti bhasha akademi shimla - prastavna .
  23. Book: Atal Tunnel, Rohtang . Border Roads Organisation . 2021 . New Delhi . 19.
  24. Web site: Bharti . Tulsi . November 13, 2020 . अटल टनल निर्माण में अहम भूमिका निभाने वाले प्रसिद्ध साहित्यकार छेरिंग दोरजे की कोरोना से मौत . 2023-01-09 . News18 हिंदी . hi.
  25. Web site: Pokhriyal . Sanjay . October 1, 2020 . Atal Tunnel Rohtang: रोहतांग सुरंग की नींव में छेरिंग दोरजे के लिखे यह शब्द . 2023-01-11 . Dainik Jagran . hi.
  26. Book: Gill, Manohar Singh . Himalayan Wonderland: Travels in Lahaul and Spiti . 2010 . Penguin Books India . 978-0-670-08413-5 . xx . en.
  27. Book: Mackenzie, Vicki . Cave In The Snow . 1999 . Bloomsbury Publishing . 978-1-4088-2812-0 . en.
  28. Palmo . Tenzin . Summer 2021 . Tshering Dorje - In Memoriam . Gatsal . 38 . 11.
  29. Web site: negative (polymer film) (black and white) British Museum . 2023-01-16 . The British Museum . en.
  30. Web site: Tricycle . Tricycle . 2011-09-13 . Tibetan monks found chanting text by Oxford philosopher . 2023-01-16 . Tricycle: The Buddhist Review . en.
  31. Book: Kunzom, Vol. 1 (2005) . 2005 . Society for Conservation and Promotion of Culture in Lahaul & Spiti . Tobdan.
  32. Web site: 2017-03-25 . Roerich in Lahoul (Lahul) . 2023-01-11 . Roerich In Lahul . en.

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