Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Aug. 13: Geshe Lharampa Kunchok Chodak, the abbot and teaching instructor at Hortsang Kirti Monastery in Sangchu County, Gansu Province, was reportedly forcibly taken away by Chinese security personnel in a night raid in December 2024, according to Dharamshala-based Tibetan-language broadcast Voice of Tibet (VoT).
According to sources, county-level officials searched his residence, confiscating numerous documents and materials linked to the monastery’s educational management committee.
The abbot’s current whereabouts remain unknown, and there is no official information on whether he has been formally detained or charged. Sources say he has “disappeared without a trace.”
Geshe Kunchok Chodak hails from Dzoge County, where he was born to parents Alo and Machik Kyi, both now deceased. He joined Taktsang Lhamo Kirti Monastery at a young age, dedicating his life to Buddhist studies and monastic discipline.
In 2019, he was conferred the prestigious Geshe Lharampa degree, the highest scholarly title in the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, equivalent to a doctorate in Buddhist philosophy. His scholarship and commitment to monastic education led to his appointment in 2021 as the abbot of Hortsang Kirti Monastery.
Hortsang Kirti Monastery maintains a long-standing tradition of selecting its successive abbots from Taktsang Lhamo Kirti Monastery in Zorge County, reflecting a historic link between the two institutions.
