Sonam Tsemo

[1] He was born in the year of the water dog of the second cycle at Sakya and was acclaimed as an incarnation of Durjayachandra.

At age 17, he went to Sangphu Neuthok and deepened his studies under the famous scholar Chapa Chokyi Senge.

By the time he was eighteen he had mastered the triple discipline of teaching, debate and composition.

After his return to Sakya, he held the throne of the monastery for three years and then passed the authority to his younger brother, Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsen, the third of the five founding fathers.

A 17th-century painting of Sonam Tsemo from Ngor Monastery is held by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.