PLANT EXPEDITION Tibetan doctors and pharmacists prefer medicinal plants that are collected under the guidance of an experienced Tibetan doctor. This is the only way to ensure that the herbs are harvested at the right time and location as well as in the right mindset. In this short excerpt from Sitar Rose’s 2009 film Blue Poppy, Akong […]

 Tibetan Medicine Museum of China Amid a sea of factories in Xining’s Biotech Zone, there is one building that stands out: the Tibetan Medicine Museum of China, a grandiose structure that blends elements of traditional monasteries with contemporary Chinese tastes. The museum, established in 2006, is the brainchild of the Qinghai Arura Tibetan Medicine Group. […]

T.A.R. TIBETAN MEDICINE FACTORY in Lhasa is the largest Tibetan medicine factory in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Workers wearing protective overalls and face masks are a regular sight in Tibetan medicine factories in China. The Chinese Drug Administration Law (2001) made “Good Manufacturing Practices” (GMP) a requirement for the production of all Tibetan medicines sold on the […]

TASHILHUNPO MONASTERY HOSPITAL Tashilunpo Monastery has traditionally been the seat of the Panchen Lama, the second most important reincarnation line in the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism behind the Dalai Lama. In the mid-20th century, inspired by the example of the Mentsikhang (Institute of Medicine and Astrology) in Lhasa, the Tenth Panchen Lama inaugurated a […]

The traditional Tibetan medicine is a part of the unique cultural heritage of Oriental peoples. As a unified system it was formed in VII-VIII centuries after involving the experience of the medical systems of India, Chins, Persia, Nepal and the Mediterranean countries. In XVI-XVII centuries the penetration of Buddhism into Mongolia and then into Buryatia gave […]

MEN-TSEE-KHANG PHARMACY The Men-Tsee-Khang in Dharamshala, India, is the foremost institution for Tibetan medicine in exile. It was established in March 1961 as one of the first Tibetan institutions in exile—a testimony to the importance given to Tibetan medicine both for healthcare and as one of the ten traditional Tibetan sciences. The Men-Tsee-Khang includes a college, […]

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, December 2011 in Kathmandu  International conferences have a long tradition in Tibetan medicine. According to hagiographic accounts, the history of Tibetan medicine started more than a thousand years ago with an international meeting in Lhasa that assembled doctors and experts from China, India, and Persia. Just as with any dynamic system of knowledge, […]

 INDIAN PATIENTS This video features the Bangalore branch clinic of the Men-Tsee-Khang (Institute of Medicine and Astrology) in India and its method for dispensing medicines. The clinic’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Dorjee Rapten Neshar, has become renowned in the locality for treating and managing cancer cases with Tibetan medicine. Dorjee was born in 1965 in […]

AMCHI was directed by Eda Elif Tibet in Nov.2013. Every year, Amchi Karma Chodon travels to the most remote areas in ladakh to raise awareness on women and child healthcare. The documentary film is about Amchi Karma Chodon and her baby Teljor’s last journey into the wilderness of the harsh and difficult landscape of the Himalayas. She […]

The preparation of Tibetan medicine requires many steps, like detoxification and purification of most of the ingredients. The Tibetan physicians do not treat the body as a machine but with a holistic approach, i.e. physically, mentally and spiritually. Therefore, the blessing of medicine is considered to be important. The blessing of the medicine is conducted […]