Phenpo Yulnga Khari-Khangsar
The lineage continues
Living Lineage Atelier carries forward a Tibetan thangka painting tradition preserved across generations, from Phenpo to the present atelier.
The family lineage of Phenpo Yulnga Khari-Khangsar is remembered as reaching back to the great period of Tibetan sacred art under the Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, in the seventeenth century. During this time, as the Ganden Phodrang government consolidated religious and political authority in Lhasa, exceptional thangka painters and sacred artisans were brought into service for major religious and artistic projects, including work connected to the Potala Palace and other centers of Tibetan Buddhist culture.
According to family oral history, the Khari-Khangsar lineage was recognized for its skill in thangka painting and given a hereditary responsibility: instead of regular agricultural taxes, military service, and labor duties, the family was expected to send one gifted child from each generation to Lhasa to serve as a painter. Through this responsibility, the family preserved the sacred forms, proportions, techniques, and devotional discipline of Tibetan Buddhist painting across generations.
Today, Living Lineage Atelier continues this inheritance in exile, carrying forward a tradition shaped by family memory, sacred art, state patronage, and centuries of disciplined practice.
Master Sonam Rinchen and Master Rinzin Paljor
7th and 8th Generation Masters
Sonam Rinchen was a highly respected Tibetan thangka master active in Lhasa during the early-to-mid twentieth century. In family history, he is remembered as being associated with the title of U-Dze, or senior state artist, serving in connection with the institution of the Dalai Lama in Lhasa. He was known for mastery of the New Menri, or Men-sar, style of thangka painting, with its precise iconographic proportions, refined composition, delicate color work, and use of gold.
His son, Rinzin Paljor, continued this artistic inheritance as a master thangka painter, sacred mural artist, and lineage holder. Through their work, the family’s sacred painting tradition was preserved and passed forward with discipline, devotion, and responsibility.
Master Jamphel Wangchuk and Master Tenzin Dhargay
8th and 9th Generation Masters
Jamphel Wangchuk was a Tibetan thangka master, devout Buddhist practitioner, and father of Tenzin Dhargay. His life unfolded through the hardships of mid-twentieth-century Tibet, including the suffering and upheaval of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Through these difficulties, he preserved the family’s sacred painting tradition with practice, discipline, and devotion.
Through his guidance, Tenzin Dhargay received the foundation of the family lineage before continuing his training with Rinzin Paljor and carrying the tradition forward as a ninth-generation thangka master.
9th Generation
Master Tenzin Dhargay
Ninth-generation Tibetan thangka master
Tenzin Dhargay is a ninth-generation Tibetan thangka master from the family lineage of Phenpo Yulnga Khari-Khangsar. He began training in Tibet at a young age under his father, Jamphel Wangchuk, receiving the foundations of drawing, iconographic proportion, color, and devotional discipline within the family tradition.
After leaving Tibet, he continued his formal thangka education in Dharamshala and later apprenticed under Rinzin Paljor during the Kalachakra Temple project. Over decades of practice, he has worked deeply in Buddhist sacred art, traditional composition, gold work, restoration, fine detailing, and the final sacred finishing of thangkas.
As the senior master and artistic leader of Living Lineage Atelier, Tenzin Dhargay guides the atelier’s work, oversees the traditional process, and carries the responsibility of transmitting the family lineage to the next generation. His role is not only to paint, but to preserve the knowledge, discipline, and devotional spirit behind Tibetan thangka art.
10th Generation
Tenzin Kalden
Tenth-generation Tibetan thangka artist
Tenzin Kalden is the tenth-generation artist of the family lineage, training directly under his father, ninth-generation thangka master Tenzin Dhargay. His practice is rooted in the disciplined foundations of Tibetan thangka painting, including drawing, kyabri underdrawing, gold work, and the delicate painting of the eyes.
Alongside his artistic training, Tenzin helps guide the day-to-day operations and development of Living Lineage Atelier, supporting the structure needed for the family tradition to continue with care, discipline, and devotion to the sacred art.
Commission from the lineage
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For original thangkas, sacred spaces, or serious collector inquiries, please begin with a private commission inquiry.
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