The Most Venerable Dr. Pallegama Hemarathana Thero received an honorary doctorate today from the Venerable Wangchuk Dorjee Negi Thero, Vice Chancellor of the Central Institute of Tibetan Higher Studies in Sarnath, India, during an event held at the BMICH in Colombo. We extend our sincere congratulations and warm wishes to the Venerable Thero in the spirit of Buddhist brotherhood.
The Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS), located in Sarnath, Varanasi, India, is a unique government-funded ‘deemed to be university’. Established in 1967 through the joint initiative of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, its primary aim was to cater to the cultural and educational needs of young Tibetans in exile and students from the Himalayan regions of India who shared a similar cultural heritage with Tibet. This became especially important after the Chinese occupation of Tibet disrupted their traditional avenues of education.
Initially functioning as a special wing of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, CIHTS became an autonomous institution in 1977 and was declared a ‘Deemed to be University’ in 1988. Today, it stands as a premier center for Tibetan studies, renowned for its efforts in preserving and promoting Tibetan language, religion, and culture.
The institute’s uniqueness lies in its commitment to housing and teaching all four major schools of ancient Indian Buddhist traditions that were preserved in Tibet for over a millennium, along with the pre-Buddhist Bon tradition of Tibet, all under one roof. CIHTS attracts students from various Himalayan regions, including Ladakh, Spiti, Bhutan, Nepal, and Mongolia, as well as international scholars.
CIHTS offers a wide range of programs, including undergraduate (Shastri), postgraduate (Acharya), and doctoral (Vidyavaridhi/Ph.D.) degrees in areas such as Buddhist Philosophy, Tibetan Literature, History, Culture, Sowa-Rigpa (Traditional Tibetan Medicine), and Fine Arts. It also houses the Shantaraksita Library, a treasure trove of rare Tibetan manuscripts and texts, and a vibrant publication unit dedicated to restoring and translating important works. The institute also includes the Sowa-Rigpa Medical College and Hospital and a Centre for Teacher Education.