Drepung Loseling Monastery, Mundgod

འབྲས་སྤུངས་བློ་གསལ་གླིང་
གཙང་པ་ཁང་ཚན།

Drepung Loseling Tsangpa Khangtsen

Our vision: a new home where every monk of our house can live, study and practise together.

Donate now See the vision

Our prayer hall is overflowing
Young monks are leaving for lack of space
The old site can’t grow or build higher

₹3.91 crore to complete the new home

₹4.91 crore raised92% of walls up

Donate now See the vision

The current Tsangpa Khangtsen courtyard, with its residential blocks and trees

The new monks’ quarters under construction at sunset

Today Our Khangtsen in Mundgod

The monks of Tsangpa Khangtsen gathered in their prayer hall to celebrate His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday — The Khangtsen gathered for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday celebration.

1416Drepung Monastery founded near Lhasa

1700sTsangpa Khangtsen begins with a few dozen monks

24Khangtsens of Drepung Loseling, ours among them

4Home countries of our monks: Tibet, India, Nepal and Bhutan

Our story

Centuries of learning

Drepung Monastery was founded near Lhasa in 1416 by Jamyang Chöje Tashi Palden, a disciple of Je Tsongkhapa. Loseling grew into the largest of its colleges and was closely tied to the Dalai Lamas: the Second Dalai Lama made his residence there in 1494.

Monks at Loseling live and study in khangtsens, or regional houses. Tsangpa Khangtsen began in the eighteenth century with a few dozen monks and grew steadily into the house that carries its name today. The name refers to Tsang, the region of west-central Tibet.

After 1959, Drepung was re-established in exile in Mundgod, Karnataka, and the Khangtsen with it. Today it is one of the 24 khangtsens of Drepung Loseling, with monks mainly from Tibet, India, Nepal and Bhutan.

The journey so far

1416
Drepung Monastery is founded near Lhasa.
1494
The Second Dalai Lama makes his residence at Loseling.
1700s
A few dozen monks found what becomes Tsangpa Khangtsen.
After 1959
Drepung is re-established in exile in Mundgod, Karnataka.
2018
We begin welcoming new young monks to sustain the Sangha.
2019
We decide to rebuild on a new, larger site.
February 2024
Ground is broken for the new Khangtsen.
January 2026
Prayers and a tree planting on the new site with well-wishers from India and abroad.
$A path of petals laid for the ceremony on the new site$
April 2026
Drepung Tsangpa Buddhist Cultural Society is registered in Karnataka.
Next
Painting, utilities and fencing, and the first monks move in.

Our lineage

A lineage of teachers

Masters who trained in Tsangpa Khangtsen include:

The successive incarnations of Tutor Yeshe GyaltsenTutor to the 8th Dalai Lama, Jamphel Gyatso
The 92nd throne-holder of Ganden
The great Khenchen Yeshi Jinpa
Geshe Thupten WangyalFormer Abbot of Tsechokling Monastery, Dharamsala
Geshe Dorji DamdulDirector of Tibet House, New Delhi, and former English translator to His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Geshe Lobsang DawaFormer Dharma teacher at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, McLeod Ganj
Geshe Thupten Palsang

The Khangtsen today

Study, prayer and community

Our monks range from young novices to senior teachers. The day is shaped by study, debate and prayer, and through the year the courtyard fills with ceremonies, celebrations and guests who come to learn with us.

Study and debate

Monks follow Drepung Loseling’s programme in Buddhist philosophy, logic and debate, the long path toward the Geshe degree.

Prayers and pujas

The community gathers daily in the prayer hall and performs prayers on request, including the 21 Tara prayers, Tara sadhana and Dharmapala rituals.

Study retreats

We organise study retreats for participants from across India and around the world, hosted at the Khangtsen in Mundgod.

Training young monks

Since 2018 we have welcomed boys from Nepal and the Indian Himalayan regions, who receive traditional and modern education.

Celebrations and visitors

We mark major occasions together, such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday, and welcome friends and pilgrims who visit Mundgod.

Visiting participants and monks sharing a meal at tables set out in the Khangtsen courtyard — Visiting participants share a meal in the courtyard.

Monks seated in rows in the courtyard at night facing a teacher on a raised seat — An evening session in the courtyard.

A monk and a visitor kicking a ball in the paved courtyard between the residential blocks — A quiet moment in the courtyard.

The Khangtsen buildings and palm trees strung with lights at night — The Khangtsen lit up for a celebration.

Monks of all ages seated with visiting supporters wearing khatas in the prayer hall — With visiting supporters in the prayer hall.

Young monks reading texts along the wall of the prayer hall — Young monks at recitation.

The vision

Imagine it complete

A multi-purpose prayer hall for the whole assembly, flanked by two rows of three-storey quarters. Drag across the picture to move from today’s site to the finished Khangtsen.

TodayWhen complete

An artist’s impression for illustration only, not an architectural drawing.

One prayer hall

Room for the whole assembly to gather for prayer, study and ceremonies.

84 rooms

Each with an attached kitchen and bathroom, safe and dry through the monsoon.

One compound

Every monk of the house living together, for better care and discipline.

Room to grow

Space for the young monks who join us each year.

Why we are building

Our home has outgrown itself

For years our prayer hall has been overcrowded and there have not been enough rooms. Some of the current rooms are old and in poor condition. In 2019 we decided to rebuild on a new, larger site, so every monk can live within one compound.

The old site is too small

There is no room for a larger prayer hall or more quarters on the land we occupy today.

The soil can’t take more floors

The ground beneath the existing three-storey blocks can’t support the foundations needed to build higher.

New monks need space

Since 2018, 25 boys from Nepal and the Indian Himalayan regions joined, then five more by October 2024, nine in 2025, with three expected by the end of 2026. Several left because of cramped living space.

Senior monks seated at long tables during a puja in the current prayer hall — A puja in the current prayer hall, where every seat is taken.

Monks of all ages reciting texts on rows of cushions in the current hall — Daily recitation in the current hall.

Where we are

The walls are rising

Ground was broken in February 2024. Most of the work so far has gone into the monks’ quarters, with the prayer hall partly under way. With funding in place, we expect to finish within a year.

Done and next

DoneFoundations, columns and roof slabs for the quarters
DoneAbout 92% of the walls and ceilings of the 84 rooms
Under wayThe multi-purpose prayer hall
NextPainting, indoor utilities and outdoor fencing
NextTemple interiors for the prayer hall
NextLandscaping and site works around the new home

Wide view of the two long rows of monks’ quarters with the site between them — The two rows of quarters, May 2026.

Monks standing on the roof of a quarters block at sunset, pointing across the site — Monks surveying the work from the roof.

Visitors lining a red carpet strewn with yellow and orange petals beside the quarters under construction — A path of petals for the ceremony on the new site, January 2026.

View from a rooftop over new column foundations toward the quarters — Foundations and columns for the next stage.

Monks and visitors with palms joined around a newly planted sapling — Prayers at the tree planting.

Workers laying concrete between reinforced columns — Concrete work between the columns.

Three monks talking on a finished roof slab at sunset — A finished roof slab at dusk.

An excavator moving gravel beside the new columns — Work continues through the season.

Help us finish

₹3.91 crore

is what we still need to complete the new home for Tsangpa Khangtsen. Every offering, of any size, brings it closer.

Donate now

Fill a short form and we will contact you with the details to make your donation.

What remains to be funded

Finishing the 84 rooms₹2.16 Cr
Painting, indoor utilities and outdoor fencing
Temple interiors₹1.01 Cr
Statues, offerings and furnishings for the prayer hall
Landscaping and site works₹0.75 Cr
Grounds, roads, water and boundary for the new home

Total still needed₹3.91 Cr

Temple interiors are partly priced in Nepalese rupees, so that figure is approximate.

Walls and ceilings

92%

of the walls and ceilings for the 84 rooms are up.

First row of quarters, 42 rooms

Second row of quarters, 42 rooms

Walls and ceiling upStill to buildEach square is one room; layout is illustrative.

Funds for the 84 rooms

₹4.91 Cr

raised of ₹6.92 crore for the 84 rooms, as of October 2026.

Estimated cost of the 84 rooms: ₹6,92,20,000
Raised so far: ₹4,90,87,000
Spent on construction: ₹4,75,27,000
Balance in use on current work: ₹15,60,000
Still needed to finish: ₹2,16,00,000

This ring covers the 84-room budget only.

Contact us

For any questions, reach Ven. Ngawang Chophel in Tibetan, English or Hindi.

WhatsApp Email

WhatsApp and Telegram: +91 70180 28159

Email (Tibetan, English or Chinese): dretsangpakhangtsen@gmail.com

Office: +91 8301 246046

Registered society

Drepung Tsangpa Buddhist Cultural Society

A non-profit society registered under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1960. Its income is used only for its charitable, educational and cultural objects.

Registration no.: DRUK/SOR/18/2026-2027
Registered on: 23 April 2026
Office: Lama Camp 2, P.O. Tibetan Colony, Mundgod 581411, Uttara Kannada, Karnataka

Managing committee

Dakpa JigmePresident
Rinchin NorbuVice-President
Kulsang KhampaSecretary
Gyatso SherapTreasurer
Lobsang TsundueBoard member
Tenzin ChoephelBoard member
Genyen TenzinBoard member