The Loden Foundation

Education, Entrepreneurship, and Culture|1999-now

Funder: Institutions and Individuals

As the founder, pro bono director until 2012, president until 2022, and now an active trustee of the Loden Foundation in Bhutan and the director/trustee of its sister organisation in the UK, Lopen Karma Phuntsho has been mainly responsible for the oversight of its three programmes and associated activities of resource mobilisation, administration, programme implementation, and reporting.

 Bodhitse Centre

Library and Centre for Study and Contemplation|2015-now

Funder: Personal Resources

With the hope of promoting the wisdom traditions, Lopen Karma Phuntsho have slowly developed a library and centre for study and contemplation at the heart of Thimphu. In addition to giving public access to the library, the centre organizes events and run courses on subjects such as mindfulness, compassion, and meditation.

Dzongkha Competency and Usage Study

Dzongkha Development Commission|2019-2020

Funder: Royal Government of Bhutan

As the chief advisor and director, Lopen Karma Phuntsho worked for the Dzongkha Development Commission to carry out a nationwide survey of the usage of Dzongkha and also develop a standard Dzongkha testing system for Bhutan.

The Life and Legacies of Guru Rinpoche

National Library and Archives of Bhutan|2016-2018

Funder: Government of India

As the chief project manager, Lopen Karma Phuntsho worked with three other scholars on a new biography of Guru Rinpoche using the local Bhutanese written and oral sources to highlight the role of Guru Rinpoche in the construction of Bhutan’s spiritual, religious, cultural, social and political identity. The team also produced a compilation of all terma treasures revealed in Bhutan along with biographies of relevant treasure discoverers and a volume containing the accounts of Bhutan’s spiritual sites and sanctuaries associated with Guru Rinpoche.

Building Bhutanese Resilience Against Cataclysmic Events (BRACE)

University of Bristol|2017-2018

Funder: Global Challenge Research Fund

Lopen Karma Phuntsho was involved in giving the historical and cultural perspective on seismic history and perception in Bhutan for the project by reading and analyzing over two dozen traditional sources. This was subsequent to the findings on the earthquake of 1714 which he jointly published in Geophysical Letters and Science covered the story.

 The Oral Traditions of Bhutan

University of Virginia and Bhutan|2013-2018

Funder: Arcadia

Leading a team of researchers, Lopen Karma Phuntsho directed a five year project to document and study the oral cultures across Bhutan. The project resulted in over 3100 hours of audio-visual documentation of the oral and intangible cultures, some 3000 edited documentary films, over 200,000 images of cultural objects and events, some 4000 place descriptions, 1700 cultural subject descriptions and 250 essays on cultural topics, mostly authored by him.

Digital documentation of manuscripts in Dongkarla, Chizhing, Phajoding and Dodedra Temples

Bhutan and London|2012-2013

Funder: The British Library Endangered Archives Programme

Funder: The British Library Endangered Archives Programme

As the applicant and main investigator for the project to digitize and study the manuscript collections in these temples, Lopen Karma Phuntsho led the initiative to digitise manuscripts and books in the archives of Dongkarla, Chizhing, Phajoding, Mendru, Pagar, Dodedra, Thujidra and Due Gonpa temples, and produced over 300,000 images of rare books.

 Digitization of the manuscripts in Thadrak, Tshamdrak and Nephu Temples

 Cambridge and Bhutan|2009-2010

Funder: The British Library Endangered Archives Programme

As applicant and main investigator for the project to digitize and study the manuscript collections in Tshamdrak and Nephu temples through funding from the Endangered Archives Programme, Lopen Karma Phuntsho led the project to digitise manuscripts and rare block prints in Thadrak, Neyphu, Phurdrup Gonpa, and Tshamdrak temples producing 287,193 images of rare books.

Campaign for Conservation: Shingkhar

Cambridge and Shingkhar|2011

Funder: None

Lopen Karma Phuntsho ran a campaign to conserve the Shingkhar valley when an investor planned to develop a golf course at Kangsumthang in 2011. The area of over a hundred acres of marshy grassland is used by the local community as pastures and also falls within the sacred landscape. He successfully lobbied the local community to reject the plan. He also helped keep away a 80,000 panel solar project at the same location in 2021. A similar project to conserve Tali lake was undertaken in 2019 under his direction.

The Historical Study and Documentation of the Pad gling traditions in Bhutan

Cambridge and Bhutan|2007-2012

Funder: University of Cambridge and Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK

As the principal investigator for this five year project, Lopen Karma Phuntsho studied the religious, cultural and political significance of the Pema Lingpa tradition in Bhutanese history and in the greater Tibetan Buddhist world. The most important outcome of this project was the edited text used for the most recent publication of Pema Lingpa corpus, the three biographies of the founding fathers of the tradition. The History of Bhutan was an accidental outcome of the project.

Digitization of the manuscripts in Drametse and Ogyen Choling

Oxford and Bhutan|2006-2007

Funder: The British Library Endangered Archives Programme and Aris Centre

Lopen Karma Phuntsho was the applicant and main investigator for the project, which reproduced digital copies of the entire collection of manuscripts in the monastic establishments of Drametse, Ogyen Choling, and Nyala. This was the second project funded by Endangered Archives Programme.

Tibetan-Mongolian Rare Books and Manuscripts Project

Cambridge, Oxford, London and Tibet|2003-2006

Funder: University of Cambridge and Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK

As the main investigator for this project funded by the AHRC, Lopen Karma Phuntsho led the initiative to microfilm and digitise all the Tibetan materials in the Cambridge University Library and consolidate, catalogue and digitise the Tibetan materials in the British Library, the Bodleian Library and the Cambridge University Library acquired during the Younghusband invasion of Tibet. The outcome of this project was the digital copies of the Tibetan books in the three libraries and the online catalogue.

Digital documentation of manuscript holdings of Gangtey Monastery

Oxford and Bhutan|2003 - 2006

Funder: The British Library Endangered Archives Programme

This project started as an initiative to photograph the rNying ma rgyud ’bum collection in Gangtey. Through funding from the Endangered Archives Programme, this was extended to digitize the entire collection of manuscripts in Gangtey monastery. It was the first major effort of digitisation which produced 1451 volumes containing 270,398 pages in digital copies. 

Sustaining Ura’s Yakcho Festival

The Ura Makrong Village|2000-now

Funder: None

As a member of the village community, Lopen Karma Phuntsho have been spearheading the ways to sustain the main village festival, and document its processes. Since 1999, he has been annually visiting his village for the festival to help the villagers organise the festival and also enhance the experience for about 500 international visitors from some 50 nationalities, who attend the festival every year.

Tradition and Modernity in Bhutan

Oxford and Bhutan|2000-2003

Funder: Oxford Research Scholarship

A study of the changing patterns of education in Bhutan, the tension between modern and traditional education, and the origin and modern use of some socio-political themes in Bhutan, the outcome was published in the article Two Ways of Learning by the Centre for Bhutan Studies.

In the Footsteps of ’Ju Mipham Namgyal Gyatso

Beijing, Sichuan, Qinghai, Tibet, and Nepal|2002

Funder: Aris Trust

The project involved travelling in China and across Tibet to visit sites associated with the famous Nyingma master Mipham Namgyal Gyatso. It resulted in a detailed account and photographs of the places and people related to the life and works of Mipham Namgyal Gyatso, a nineteenth century Tibetan polymath.

The Position of ’Ju Mipham in the Indo-Tibetan Debate on Emptiness

Oxford|1998-2003

Funder: John and Polly Guth, Oxford Bursary, Overseas Research Scholarship, Elizabeth Chatwin

Lopen Karma Phuntsho undertook his doctoral research on the philosophical writings on Emptiness and the role of ‘Ju Mipham Namgyal Gyatso in the debates on Emptiness. His doctoral thesis was submitted to the University of Oxford in 2003 and has been subsequently published by RoutledgeCurzon in 2005.