Khyentse Foundation Ashoka Grant 2025

Written By Studio Nyandak

As part of the 2025 Ashoka Grant program, the Khyentse Foundation will support Studio Nyandak in completing the final stage of Temples of Tibet, a project dedicated to documenting and verifying the precise locations of Tibetan monasteries lost since the mid-20th century.

The grant will specifically fund research coordinated by Studio Nyandak’s Dharamsala office, cross-referencing historical records, conducting interviews with elder monks, and applying GIS technology to confirm exact geographic coordinates.

Over the past 2 years, we have verified over 1,700 monastery locations with the help of our translators and research collaborators (BDRC, Treasury of Lives, Prof. Karl Ryavec, Prof. Gray Tuttle and Tsering Wangyal Shawa). The Ashoka Grant will enable us to complete the remaining work within the next year.

Studio Nyandak team interviewing an elder monk about the history of now destroyed Tibetan Monasteries.

Map of Temples of Tibet’s currently verified and identified Tibetan Buddhist monasteries.

Snapshot of Temples of Tibet’s geographic database.

 
Studio Nyandak https://www.nyandak.com
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Field Trip to Zanskar 2025