The Norbulingka Institute is located in Dharamshala and is dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan art and culture. Founded in 1988 by the Department of Religion and Culture of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the institute is named after Dalai Lama's summer residence, the Norbulingka, at Lhasa..
Though the institute was founded in 1988, it formally began operating only after 1995. The Norbulingka Institute comprises the Centre for Arts, the Academy of Tibetan Culture, the Literary and Cultural Research Centre, the Library and Publications. The institute employs over three hundred people mostly from Tibet. The Institute also has over seventy students training in literary studies and variety of craftsman skills.The main aim of the Institute is to promote and preserve Tibetan Arts, Crafts and Literature which was threatened with destruction following the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950.
The Institute provides training, employment and basic care for many qualified Tibetan refugees. Here, concerned individuals find a suitable environment and necessary resources to preserve and develop the Tibetan arts and literary tradition.
These refugees are trained in Statue Making, Thangka Painting, needlework and appliqué work, tailoring, wood carving and carpentry and these skills are preserved ad passed on at the Norbulingka Institute.
