Monastic Education in Ladakh and the Possibilities of Engaging with Tradition as a Source for Education

Abstract

Ladakh is a mountainous region in the northernmost extremity of the Indian subcontinent and is therefore on the geographical margins of the Indian nation, because of which many of the developmental initiatives could not reach here. However, the traditional institutions had survived for centuries and the Buddhist monastery of Gompa was one of the most important institutes and played an important part in the daily lives of the people. One of the important aspects of the Buddhist monastery was its role in education and this chapter argues that the educational attainment of the people in the traditional monastic set-up was of a high degree and can be an important cultural resource for addressing today’s educational needs. The purpose of this chapter is to understand how exchanges between these regions were ones that led to innovations in education and how such a rich cultural resource can be marshalled once again if the monastic networks are revived leading to the flowering of education once again.