Jebtsundamba

The Khalkha Jetsun Dampa (also known as Jebtsundamba Khutughtu; and as Javzandamba Hutagt in Khalkha Mongolian; also as Rje Btsun Dam Pa in Tibetan — all meaning lit. Holy Venerable Lord), also holds the title of Boghda Gegeen or Bogd Gegeen, the title of the top-ranked lama in Mongolia. He is the spiritual head of the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia.

The first Jetsun Dampa, also known as Zanabazar (1635-1723), was identified as the reincarnation of Taranatha of the Jonang school of Tibetan Buddhism. He acceded the head of the Khalkha Mongols. Jetsun Dampa became the spiritual leader of northern Mongolia.

The first two Jetsun Dambas were direct descendants of Chinggis Khan. On the intervation of the Qing Dynasty, which was afraid of Mongol reunification, the rest were chosen from the Tibetans.

When northern Mongolia began the independence movement, the eighth Jetsun Damba (1869-1924) assumed the title of Emperor of Mongolia, called Boghda Khaan (Bogd Khaan). He was the head of the state until his death in 1924. The communist government declared the end of his reincarnation.

The present Khalkha Jetsun Dampa is Jampal Namdol Chokye Gyaltsen, born in Lhasa, Tibet. At the age of four he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Eighth Khalkha Jetsun Dampa, the spiritual head of the Gelugpa lineage in Mongolia. In 1959 he emigrated to Dharamsala, India where he now lives in exile.

External links

• Online biography of Zanabazar, the first Khalkha Jetsun Dampa (http://www.zanabazar.mn/Life/zanabazar.html)
• Official web site of His Holiness the Ninth Khalkha Jetsun Dampa Rinpoche (http://community.palouse.net/lotus/khalkhabio.htm)