affairs, a policy which exists, in modified form, to this day. Relations with Ladakh Sengge Namgyal, who ruled Ladakh from 1616 to 1623 and 1624 to 1642, was a devotee of the Ralung lineage of the Drukpa school. Like Bhutan, Ladakh then had differences with the new Gaden Photrang government of Tibet established by the fifth Dalai Lama, which attempted to annex Ladakh. An invitation was sent to Bhutan requesting that Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal become the state priest; as the Zhabdrung was occupied confronting an invasion from Tibet and consolidating the new Bhutanese state, he sent Choje Mukzinpa as his representative to the court of Ladakh. Several religious estates were offered to the Bhutanese in present-day Ladakh, Zangskar, and western Tibet (Ngari Korsum [mga' ris bskor gsum]), which was then part of Ladakh. One of them, Stakna Monastery or "Tiger's Nose," established by Choje Mukzinpa, became the main seat of the Southern Drukpa Kagyu tradition in Ladakh; this monastery still preserves artifacts and documents related to Bhutan, some of them said to have been gifted by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. Death Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal died in 1651, and power effectively passed to the penlops (local governors), instead of to a successor Zhabdrung. In order to forestall a dynastic struggle and a return to warlordism, the governors conspired to keep the death of the Zhabdrung secret for fifty-four years; during this time, they issued orders in his name, explaining that he was on an extended, silent retreat. The anniversary of the death of the Zhabdrung is modernly celebrated as a Bhutanese national holiday, falling on the third month, tenth day of the Bhutanese calendar. Notes References Sources External links Article: Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal at the Dharma Dictionary. Images: Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal at HimalayanArt.org. Image: 18 C painting of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal from Tango Monastery, Bhutan 1594 births 1651 deaths Drukpa Kagyu lamas Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet Bhutanese Buddhist monks 17th century in Bhutan 16th-century Tibetan people 17th-century Tibetan people Zhabdrung Rinpoches