India GOPadmasambhava, Guru Rinpoche: who he was and where India keeps him
པདྨ་འབྱུང་གནས
The tantric master who, with Shantarakshita, planted Buddhism firmly in 8th-century Tibet; every Nyingma gompa keeps his image.
Padmasambhava, “born from a lotus” in Sanskrit, is the Indian tantric master whom Tibetans call Guru Rinpoche, the Precious Guru. He is credited with helping found Samye, Tibet’s first monastery, in the 8th century, and the Nyingma school, the oldest in Tibetan Buddhism, regards him as its founding figure. In India he is most closely tied to the lake of Rewalsar in Himachal Pradesh and to Nyingma monasteries such as Mindrolling in Dehradun.
Story
By tradition born from a lotus on a lake in Oddiyana, he was invited to Tibet by King Trisong Detsen when demons kept toppling the walls of Samye; he bound them by oath, and the monastery stood. He is said to have hidden teachings (terma) in rocks, lakes and minds, to be found when the time was right. In the Himalaya he is simply Guru Rinpoche, the Precious Teacher, the second Buddha.
ཨོཾ་ཨཱཿཧཱུྃ་བཛྲ་གུ་རུ་པདྨ་སིདྡྷི་ཧཱུྃ
The Vajra Guru mantra, chanted in every Nyingma gompa
Vajra Guru mantra
Places linked to them
Mindrolling Monastery · DehradunHistory and legend
Padmasambhava stands where history and hagiography meet, and scholars describe him as semi-legendary. Earlier Tibetologists questioned whether he was historical; today that is “cautiously accepted”. Tradition places his birth in Oddiyana, a land whose exact location scholars still debate.
The outline that sources agree on: King Trisong Detsen, who reigned in the second half of the 8th century, invited the Indian philosopher Shantarakshita to found a monastery, and Padmasambhava came to help. Together they built Samye. His task in the story is to tame the local spirits that opposed the new teaching, binding them by oath into protectors, and to teach the tantric practices of the Vajrayana.
Two women are central to his life as Tibetans tell it: his Tibetan disciple Yeshe Tsogyal, remembered as the “Mother of Buddhism” in Tibet, and Mandarava, a princess from India who became his consort. The tradition also describes eight manifestations, peaceful and wrathful forms he took in different periods, so a gompa may show him in quite different forms.
The Nyingma school traces itself to him, and so does the terma tradition: teachings he is said to have hidden in rocks, lakes and minds, to be found by “treasure revealers” when the time is right. The text known in the West as the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol) is one of them, revealed by Karma Lingpa.
Where to find him in India
Every Nyingma gompa keeps his image: in the usual form he holds a vajra in his right hand, a skull cup in his left, and a trident staff (khatvanga) cradled in his left arm. Two places in northern India are tied to him more closely.
Rewalsar (Tso Pema), Himachal Pradesh
A lake at about 1,360 m in Mandi district, about 22.5 km south-west of Mandi town. Tibetans call it Tso Pema, the Lotus Lake. Tradition says a king tried to burn Padmasambhava and Mandarava alive, and the pyre turned into this lake, with the two found unharmed on a lotus. A 37.5-metre statue of Padmasambhava, consecrated by the Dalai Lama in 2012, looks over the water. The lake is sacred to Hindus and Sikhs as well: there are temples to Krishna, Shiva and the sage Lomasha, and Guru Gobind Singh is remembered for a month spent here.
Mindrolling Monastery, Dehradun
A working Nyingma monastery in Clement Town, the Tibetan settlement on Dehradun’s southern edge, with a Great Stupa about 56 metres high. The monastery says day visits to the stupa need no advance arrangement and that it opens daily from 9:00; there is no entry fee.
His day: Hemis Tsechu
The tenth day of the fifth month of the Tibetan calendar is kept as Padmasambhava’s birthday. In India the best-known celebration is Hemis Tsechu in Ladakh: two days of masked cham dances in the courtyard of Hemis, Ladakh’s largest monastery, with monks in brocade turning slowly to long horns. It usually falls between mid-June and mid-July; Hemis and Ladakh’s tourism department publish the dates about a year ahead. In 2028, a Monkey year, the great thangka (a painted scroll) of the monastery is also due to be unveiled.
Around a stupa
Pilgrims walk round stupas and monasteries clockwise, and prayer wheels are usually spun clockwise too, the direction in which the mantras on them are written.
❓ FAQ
Is Guru Rinpoche the same as Padmasambhava?
Yes. Guru Rinpoche, “Precious Guru”, is the Tibetan name for Padmasambhava, and in the Himalaya it is the name most people use.
What was Padmasambhava known for?
For bringing tantric Buddhism to Tibet in the 8th century and helping found Samye monastery. The Nyingma school regards him as its founder, and the hidden “treasure” teachings (terma) are attributed to him.
Was Padmasambhava a real person?
Scholars call him semi-legendary: his historical existence is now cautiously accepted, while most of the stories about him belong to later tradition.
Where is the big Padmasambhava statue in India?
At Rewalsar (Tso Pema) in Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh: 37.5 metres, consecrated by the Dalai Lama in 2012.
When is Guru Rinpoche’s birthday celebrated?
On the tenth day of the fifth Tibetan month, usually in June or July. In Ladakh it is the first day of Hemis Tsechu.