A panoramic view of homes to monks, nuns and religious students at the campus of Serthar Institute. [Photo/IC]

In 1980, Jigme Phuntsok, a Nyingma lama from the Dhok region of Kham, known by followers as a living Buddha and believed to be the reincarnation of a holy figure, founded the Serthar Buddhist Institute in an entirely uninhabited valley.

Located in the Larung valley near Serthar county, Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Southwest China's Sichuan province, the Serthar Buddhism Institute has become one of the largest and most influential centers for the study of Tibetan Buddhism in the world, despite its extremely remote location.

One of the most interesting elements of Serthar is that more than half of those who come to study there are women. Another surprise is that it attracts ethnic Chinese students as well as Tibetans. Of the over 8,000 students here, roughly 1,000 are ethnic Chinese or students from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, who attend separate classes taught in Mandarin, while larger classes are taught in Tibetan.