In 1980, Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok founded the Larung Ngarig Buddhist Academy near the township of Larung in Sêrtar County, Garzê Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The purpose of the Institute has been to provide an ecumenical training in Tibetan Buddhism and to meet the need for renewal of meditation and scholarship all over Tibet in the wake of China’s Cultural Revolution of 1966-76.
Despite its remote location, it grew from a handful of disciples gathering in Jigme Phuntsok’s home to be one of the largest and most influential centers for the study of Tibetan Buddhism in the world, numbering to nearly 10,000 monks, nuns, and lay disciples by the year 2000. As of 2015, the number of residents has grown to about 40,000.
Overall, the student body of Larung Five Sciences Buddhist Academy is made up of monks, nuns, lay “vow-holders” of both Tibetan and Chinese origins, and tantric practitioners. The student campus is among the most densely-populated in the world with houses sprawling all over the valley and up the surrounding mountains. The houses, built fro, wood traditionally found in this region, are so close together that they appear almost on top of each other.
Picture Credit : Google