< Issue No. 20 (2025/2026)
Memorial
Ganden Monastery and the "Monasticization" of Tibetan Pilgrimage: The Unfinished Work of Michael Ium
Ium, Michael, † Austrian Academy of Sciences
Hartmann, Catherine, University of Wyoming
Abstract
This article reconstructs Michael Ium's unfinished work on Ganden Monastery as a Gelukpa pilgrimage site in Tibet, based on his 2023 dissertation, XXth IABS Congress abstract, unpublished research proposals, and other sources shared by friends and colleagues. Drawing on pilgrimage guides to Ganden, Ium argued for a new approach that explores the "monasticization" of Tibetan pilgrimage as opposed to more thoroughly studied pilgrimage routes to mountains and lakes. This complicates long-standing narratives about not only the nature of pilgrimage in Tibet, but the traditional and scholarly portrayals of Geluk identity and history.