The garden of the Lama Yongden, together with the museum display in Villa Samten Dzong, is the gift that Alexandra David- Néel, untiring female traveler over the roads of the world and the mind, left behind for anyone wishing to answer the call of Tibetan fascination. The elegant Indian-style lines of the main building, the numerous exotic plants from the Himalayas, and the steep rocks underscore the distinctiveness of the whole.
In one of her wills, the explorer expressed the desire to have the garden of her villa open to the inhabitants of Digne and that it would bear the name of Samten Dzong.
An inscription reads: "Garden dedicated by Alexandra David-Néel to the memory of her adopted son, the Lama Yongden, faithful companion during her exploration of Tibet, who died here in November of 1955". The spacious park is cool in the summer and its various levels encourage walks of discovery amidst the trees and plants.
Thanks to "Jardins des Alpes", a rehabilitation project is currently underway in the 3200 m2 area that is meant to create an awareness of Tibetan folk traditions, art and handicrafts, lifestyles and landscapes.
Selected collections of vegetation will be planted and restored, acclimatizing Himalayan aromatic plants and at the same time arranging the terrain with the use of dry stones, elements common to both Tibetan landscapes and the Upper Provence region. Exploiting these materials will further highlight the relationship between the places the explorer traveled over and the landscapes of the Digne hills.
A garden for a centenarian woman who was, at various times, an anarchist, singer, journalist, feminist, Freemason, free thinker, Buddhist, Orientalist, writer, explorer, philosopher. Her spiritual adventure allowed us to come to know Hinduism and the world of Tibet, a territory until then prohibited. “First Occidental to penetrate as far as Lhassa in 1924, after an incredible clandestine journey, she has left us a universal message of courage, volition, moral integrity and wisdom” (J.Désiré - Marchand).