Learning at home
Dr. Padma Gurmet’s story is not only about preserving traditional knowledge as heritage, but about linking it to institutions, curriculum, research and regulation. According to his official Padma citation, he was born on 15 April 1971 into a family of Sowa-Rigpa practitioners. He learned the tradition from childhood from his father, Amchi Tashi Rabstan Onchung, and later earned a formal Sowa-Rigpa degree from the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, Leh.
Research and records
In 1997 he joined the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha as a Research Officer at the Amchi Medicine Research Unit in Leh. The unit grew over the years and became a National Research Institute in 2009. He took part throughout in the work of formal recognition, policy, research and planning for Sowa-Rigpa.
The citation credits his leadership with cataloguing more than 1,500 medical texts, documenting 525 medicinal plants, documenting and digitising about 1,200 formulations, and a Trans-Himalayan herbal garden of more than 100 species.
An institution of its own
Founding the National Institute of Sowa-Rigpa, and leading it as its first Director, was the institutional result of that journey. The Padma Shri in 2026 honours the bridge he built between indigenous knowledge and education, research and public institutions.
Tradition is made durable when it is documented, taught and placed inside institutions. Knowledge from a remote region can become part of national policy.
Sources
- PIB / Padma Awards 2026: official citations
- National Institute of Sowa-Rigpa
- PIB: Padma Shri congratulations
- static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2026/jun/doc2026623901101.pdf
- sowarigpainstitute.in/
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2221187&lang=2®=48