Dharamshala — Tibetans inside Tibet and Exile celebrated Tibetan Calligraphy Day, on April 30, 2026, to promote the art of Tibetan script and language preservation. The day is designed to encourage interest in fine handwriting and preserve traditional Tibetan writing styles. The celebration includes demonstrations of different scripts such as Tsugring, Tsugma, Chuyig and telling the history of Tibetan calligraphy.
The Tibetan Calligraphy Day celebration started on April 30, 2017. Since then, every year, Tibetans inside Tibet and exile celebrate it widely. The celebration feature demonstrations of different scripts such as Tsugring, Tsugma, and Chuyig and telling the history of Tibetan calligraphy. April 30 was chosen to represent the four vowels and thirty consonants of the Tibetan script. Tibetan calligraphy is considered a sacred practice that reflects the writer's inner calmness and focus.
Tibetan Museum and Palpung Sherabling Monastery celebrated Tibetan Calligraphy Day at the Tibet Museum, Gankyi, Dharamshala, on April 30, 2026. Norzin Dolma, Minister (Kalon) of the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR), Central Tibetan Administration inaugurated the celebration of the Tibetan Calligraphy Day along with DIIR secreatry Karma Choeying, Tenzin Topden, Director of Tibet Museum.
Seven monks from Palpung Sherabling Monastery displayed nine different calligraphies of their teachers and monk students, as well as history of Tibetan calligraphy and the largest publisher in Tibet, Derge Parkhang.
The Derge Parkhang, known as the Great Dharma Treasury (Tashi Gomang), was founded in 1729 by Tenpa Tsering, a king of Derge and a great patron of the Dharma. The project was carried out following the advice and encouragement of Tai Situ Rinpoche, Chökyi Jungne, who played a key role in its establishment. After carefully selecting an auspicious site at Pelden Lhundrub, construction began with the aim of printing the Kangyur-the collected words of the Buddha using carved woodblocks and vermillion ink.
Tai Situ Rinpoche personally supervised the project, especially the careful proofreading of the texts. Working with a group of learned scholars, he compared the material against reliable older manuscripts to ensure accuracy. This process began in 1730.
Out of around one thousand craftsmen, four hundred of the most skilled woodblock carvers were selected for the work. They followed strict standards: each carver was allowed to carve no more than one side of a single page per day, and even the depth of the carving was carefully controlled to ensure precision and quality.
After the Kangyur was completed, a temple was built to house it, where it has been preserved ever since. The entire project was completed through the dedicated efforts of nearly one hundred specialists over five years, including scribes, proofreaders, carvers, and craftsmen responsible for paper and ink production. The final result was a beautifully produced edition of the Kangyur in 103 volumes. Today, the Derge Parkhang remains one of the most renowned printing houses in Tibetan history, admired for the exceptional craftsmanship and accuracy of its woodblock prints. Its edition of the Kangyur is still considered one of the finest ever produced.
It further exhibited a book about 109 Tibetan calligraphies, by Tibetan scholar Ati Sherab Nyima and published by the Department of Education, Central Tibetan Administration.
Ati Sherab Nyima (born 1964) was born in the Ngawa region of Amdo in eastern Tibet. At the age of nine, he entered the monastic college at Nangzhig Monastery, where he began his studies in reading, writing, and related subjects under Geshe Tsultrim and his uncle, Namkha Tenzin.
From around the age of thirteen, he traveled to several important religious centers, including Menri Monastery, Labrang Tashikhyil, and Serta. There, he studied under many great teachers, especially the renowned scholar Japhur Sherab Lodrö Rinpoche, as well as other learned masters. He received extensive training in grammar, poetry, astrology, history, and various styles of calligraphy, along with major philosophical and scriptural teachings from Sutra and Tantra. Through this, he achieved a high level of mastery across many fields of knowledge.
After going into exile, in 1990, he participated in a Tibetan cultural competition, where he received top honors in the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He was later invited to teach at various religious institutions from different traditions, including Bön, Jonang, Sakya, and Gelug, where he shared his knowledge widely. Around 2001, he was invited to Palpung Sherab Ling Monastery. At the request of 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche, he taught subjects such as calligraphy, grammar, astrology, and poetry, benefiting many students. He is especially known for his mastery of more than one hundred styles of Tibetan script and for creating nine original script styles of his own, noted for their elegance and precision.
In 2008, he was awarded the title of Maha pandita by 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche in a formal monastic assembly. In 2017, he was appointed as a senior professor in the newly established linguistics program at the monastery's Institute of Higher Learning, where he continues to teach Tibetan grammar, poetry, and language sciences.
