Sonam Wangfel Laden La was a unique personality on the India Tibet frontier during the first three decades of the twentieth century. Born into a Sikkimese Lama family, long established in Darjeeling, he was initially educated in the Nyingmapa Buddhist tradition as a novice monk in Pemayangtse Monastery. He was then sent to Darjeeling, to be educated by Christian Jesuit priests, alongside British boys. At the same time he lived at Ghum Monastery in Darjeeling, ...
