His Holiness Drukpa Gyalwang Rinpoche XII (1963)
H. E. Kyabje Thuksey Rinpoche
Tenzin Jigdral Lodro, the twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa, was born at Rewalsar in northern India in 1963. The “Dragon (druk)” lineage name can be traced to the establishment of Namdruk (Sky-dragon) Sewa Jangchub Ling, the second monastic seminary of the Druk Kagyu established in 1206 by the first Gyalwang Drukpa Tsangpa Gyare, where nine dragons and other auspicious signs greeted his arrival. Drukgar Sangag Choeling, one of thirteen monasteries founded in the sixteenth century by Gyalwang Drukpa IV Kunkhyen Pema Karpo (1527-1592) in Jar Province in southern Tibet became the main seat of the Gyalwang Drukpa. Now the Druk Thupten Sangag Choeling Monastery (Dali Gompa) built in 1971 by the Regent Thuksey Rinpoche (1916-1983) in Darjeeling, West Bengal India is the main seat. His Holiness’s main teachers were H. E. Thuksey Rinpoche, H. H. Dudjom Rinpoche, H. H. Trulshik Rinpoche, and H. H. Dodrupchen Rinpoche IV. H. E. Thuksey Rinpoche reincarnated in Chushul, Ladakh in 1986. His Holiness has established centers in Asia, Europe and Mexico.