19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche

{{Short description|Buddhist lama}}

{{EngvarB|date=March 2020}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}

{{Infobox religious biography

| name = 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche

| honorific_prefix = His Holiness

| image = 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche.jpg

| title = 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche

| period = 21 May 1917 – 4 November 2003

| religion = Tibetan Buddhism

| consecration =

| predecessor = ?

| successor = 20th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1918|05|27}}

| birth_place = Royal Palace of Matho

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2003|11|04|1918|05|19}}

| death_place = Saket, New Delhi

| website =

}}

Ngawang Lobzang Thupstan Chognor{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OSepAgAAQBAJ&q=Lobzang+Thupstan+Chognor&pg=PT92|title=Varieties of Secularism in Asia: Anthropological Explorations of Religion, Politics and the Spiritual|author=Nils Ole Bubandt|author2=Martijn Van Beek|date=12 March 2012|isbn=9781136668630}}{{cite news|url=http://www.reachladakh.com/news/social-news/tributes-paid-to-19th-kushok-bakula-rinpoche-on-99th-birth-anniversary|title=Tributes paid to 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche on 99th Birth anniversary|publisher=Reach Ladakh Bulletin|date=30 May 2016}} ({{bo|t=ངག་དབང་བློ་བཟང་ཐུབ་བསྟན་མཆོག་ནོར|w=ngag dbang blo bzang thub bstan mchog nor}}), commonly known as 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche (19 May 1918 – 4 November 2003) was an Indian Buddhist lama, who also served as India's ambassador to Mongolia. He is mainly known for his efforts in reviving Buddhism in Mongolia and Russia by linking them with the community of Tibetan exiles in India.

He was born in the Matho branch of the Royal House of Ladakh, India. He was the youngest child of his father, Nangwa Thayas, the titular King of Matho, and his wife, Princess Yeshes Wangmo of the Royal House of Zangla. He was recognised by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama as a reincarnation of Bakula Arhat,{{cite web|url=http://www.fpmt.org/Teachers/baktribute.asp |title=Tribute to the Venerable Kushok Bakula Rinpoche |publisher=FPMT |accessdate=12 April 2018}} one of the Sixteen Arhats who in legend were direct disciples of Gautama Buddha. He was a direct descendant of the last King of Ladakh Tsepel Tondup Namgyal. He was, in fact, his great-great-great grandson.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}{{Cite news|last=Tondup|first=Dawa|url=https://www.reachladakh.com|title=The History of the Political Ordeal of Ladakh|work=Reach Ladakh Bulletin|access-date=6 November 2019}}The History of the Political Ordeal of Ladakh{{Cite news|last=Tondup|first=Dawa|url=http://www.reachladakh.com/news/oped-page/the-history-of-the-political-ordeal-of-ladakh|title=The History of the Political Ordeal of Ladakh|date=6 November 2019|work=Reach Ladakh Bulletin}}

"In 1962 ... allowed the Indian troops to convert a section of his Pethub Monastery into a makeshift military hospital. When a section of people in Kashmir demanded plebiscite, Rinpoche categorically stated that Ladakh would never go to Pakistan and would remain with India."{{cite news|url=http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/architect-of-modern-ladakh/ |title=Architect of Modern Ladakh |work=Daily Excelsior |date=14 January 2018 |accessdate=12 April 2018}}

Later he served in the Parliament of India, and was deeply engaged with welfare, education and rights of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of India. From January 1990 to October 2000, he was India's Ambassador in Mongolia.{{Cite web|url=https://eoi.gov.in/ulaanbaatar/?1043?000|title=Former Ambassadors|website=Embassy of India Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia|access-date=23 April 2018}} He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1988. The airport at Leh in the Indian region of Ladakh is named after him.