About:
- Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport is an airport in Leh, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
- The airport is named after 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche, an Indian statesman and monk.
- It is the 22nd highest commercial airport in the world at 3,256 m (10,682 ft) above mean sea level.
- In 2016, the Indian Air Force handed a small part of the airport to Airports Authority of India for construction of a new terminal.
19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche:
- 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche (1917 – 2003) was a Buddhist lama who hailed from Ladakh.
- He was elected Member of Parliament representing Ladakh for two consecutive terms, i.e. in 1967 and 1971.
- He founded the All Ladakh Gonpa Association to safeguard the interest of Buddhist monasteries of Ladakh, in 1977, he was appointed as a member of the National Commission for Minorities.
- In 1989 he was appointed as ambassador of India to Mongolia, thus becoming the first Monk diplomat in the world. He is mainly known for his efforts in reviving Buddhism in Mongolia for which he was awarded ‘Polar Star’, the civil honour of the highest degree in Mongolia in 2001.
- Recognition:
- He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1988.
- For his role in building post-independent Ladakh, Rinpoche is hailed as the ‘Gandhi of Ladakh’ and ‘Architect of Modern Ladakh’.
