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The 'Khalkha Jebtsundamba Khutughtu' (standard Mongolian: ''Javzandamba Hutagt''; Tibetan: རྗེ་བཙུན་དམ་པ་ ''Jetsun Dampa''; literally, "Holy Venerable Lord") is the spiritual head of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia. He also holds the title of ''Bogd Gegeen'', making him the top-ranked lama in Mongolia.
The first Jebtsundamba, also known as Bogdo Zanabazar (1635-1723), was identified as the reincarnation of the scholar Taranatha of the Jonang school of Tibetan Buddhism. Zanabazar was the son of the Tüsheet Khan Gombodorj, ruler of central Khalkha Mongolia, and himself became the head of the Khalkha Mongols and the spiritual leader of northern Mongolia.
The first two Jebtsundambas were members of Mongolia's highest nobility and direct descendants of Genghis Khan. After Chingünjav's rebellion and the successive demise of the second Jebtsundamba Khutugtu, the Qianlong emperor decreed that all future reincarnations were to be found from among the population of Tibet.
When northern Mongolia declared independence in 1911, the eighth Jebtsundamba (1869-1924) assumed the title of Emperor of Mongolia, calling himself Bogd Khan. He was the head of state until his death in 1924. The Communist government declared that there were to be no further reincarnations.
The present Jebtsundamba Khutughtu's original name is Jampal Namdol Chokye Gyaltsen, born in Lhasa, Tibet. At the age of four, he was recognized as the reincarnation of the 8th Jebtsundamba. In 1959 he fled to Dharamsala in India where he now lives in exile.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama has appointed the present Jebtsundamba as representative of the Jonang tradion of Tibetan Buddhism.

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External links

External links

★ The Zanabazar quadratic script, Ragchaagiin Byambaa

★ Online biography of Zanabazar, the first Khalkha Jetsun Dampa

★ Official web site of His Holiness the Ninth Khalkha Jetsun Dampa Rinpoche