Mentsikhang (Tibetan Medical & Astro Institute)

Mentsikhang (Tibetan for 'institute of medicine and astrology') was established in 1916 by the 13th Dalai Lama Thubten Gyatso, merging two traditional disciplines—Tibetan medicine and astronomical calendrics—under one roof, making it the most representative centre of traditional medicine and almanac study in Tibet.

It is renowned for preparing classical Tibetan medicines strictly according to the Gyushi (Four Medical Tantras), with renowned formulas such as Rinchen Mangjor Chenmo widely trusted across the Tibetan plateau, and for issuing the authoritative Tibetan calendar each year.

Tibetan pharmacopoeia preparations draw on mineral, plant and animal materials that are purified, compounded and processed in a set sequence; formulas may contain dozens to over a hundred ingredients, each requiring precise timing and procedure.

Brought under government administration after 1959 and reorganized as the Tibet Autonomous Region Tibetan Medicine Hospital, it continues to operate, with its traditional medical crafts protected under Tibet's intangible heritage framework.