Situ Panchen was born in Derge, a small but culturally significant kingdom at the heart of the eastern Tibetan province of Kham. He grew up there in relative peace and prosperity, in what was otherwise a volatile period in Tibet’s history.

A watershed in his religious, artistic, and political career took place in 1729 with the founding of his new monastic seat, Palpung Monastery, which became the artistic hub for the revival of the Encampment style. In 1733, with the sudden death of his teachers, Situ Panchen was thrust at the age of thirty-three into the role of de facto regent of his school. Situ proved to be a brilliant scholar and charismatic leader, influential in many areas of cultural and institutional life in eighteenth-century Tibet.