His Holiness the 17th Karmapa’s Return to Tsurphu Monastery

This is a record of the return of the reincarnated Gyalwa Karmapa to his home monastery in Tibet. The 16th Karmapa passed away in 1981 and was reborn in 1985 in Kham in Eastern Tibet.

A few years later he was recognised after an extensive search, and was eventually confirmed by many of the 16th Karmapa’s disciples and by the Dalai Lama.

In 1992, at the age of seven, he was brought to the Karmapa’s seat in Tsurphu to be enthroned, and this film records that event, and other events surrounding the Karmapa’s return.

The film includes the ceremonies surrounding the return, the monastic dances, the installment itself, the traditional long walk around the mountain where the Temple is situated, the arrival of Situ Rinpoche and the subsequent visit to Lhasa to pay homage to the Jowo Shakyamuni Buddha statue in the Jokhang Temple.

The film was made by Ward Holmes, and next week I will be showing another film by the same director from 1999, just before the Karmapa fled Tibet to join the Dalai Lama in exile.