(TibetanReview.net, Oct25’26) – Thirty-three more Tibetan Buddhist nuns from five nunneries in India and Nepal have joined the rank of geshemas this year since the scholarly programme was launched on the initiative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2012. The first batch of 20 such nuns graduated in 2016, taking their total since then to 153. Earning the degree involves 16 to 17 years of monastic study, followed by a four-year inter-nunnery examination process, and is considered equivalent to PhD.
The 9th batch of geshema graduates were presented their degrees on Oct 20 alongside closing ceremony of the 30th Tibetan Nuns’ Winter Debate Session (Jang Gunchö) in Dharamshala, India, with Kyabje Ling Choktrul Rinpoche as the chief guest.
On Oct 17, an initial batch of the graduating geshemas took their round of debate (dra kor) at the Thekchen Choeling Temple in Dharamshala. At an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the morning of Oct 18, the geshemas made a presentation on the topic of Mahayana generation of bodhicitta. Nuns who attended the Winter Debate Session also made their debate presentations. His Holiness in turn bestowed on the nuns an oral transmission of the Prayer to the Twenty-One Holy Women Siddhas of India and Tibet composed by him. On the following day, the remaining geshema candidates took their dra kor debate at the Lower TCV school compound, the venue of the 30th Winter Debate Session.
The 30th Winter Debate Session of the nuns was held from Sep 20 to Oct 20, 2026, with 475 participants from eleven nunneries in Indian and Nepal.
And of the 173 nuns who took part in the final first to fourth year exams, 156 passed, including all the 33 final-year candidates.
The geshema degree is the highest academic degree for nuns in the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The long-existent equivalent degree for monks is the geshe degree.
The other traditions of Tibetan Buddhism award Khenpo and Khenmo degrees to their successful monk and nun candidates.
This year’s geshema exams were hosted by Geden Choeling Nunnery, Dharamshala, with the Tibetan Nuns Project, a US-registered charity based in Seattle and Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh, India, bearing the entire costs, as before.
The geshema degree makes nuns eligible to assume various leadership roles in the monastic and lay communities previously reserved only for geshe degree holders.
The degree is conferred by the Department of Religion and Culture of the Central Tibetan Administration.
(Based on a Tibet.net report Oct 21, 2026, and other sources)