Following the cremation of my teacher Venerable Thinley Nyima who passed away recently, my attendant monks and I made a pilgrimage tour of the local holy sites of Tso Pema (Lotus Lake) also known as Rewalsar in northern India. The cremation itself was held in Tso Pema and with a large gathering of lamas and monks we were able to perform a truly grand cremation ceremony for my dearly departed teacher.

Having the opportunity to make a pilgrimage of the holy site of Guru Padmasambhava in the auspicious month of Saka Dawa (the holy month of the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and parinirvana) was fortuitous and we eagerly circumambulated around the Lotus Lake where Guru Rinpoche performed the miracle of transforming his funeral pyre into a lake.

Around the 8th century or even earlier, when the local king of the region known as Zahor King (present day Mandi) found out that his daughter, the Princess Mandarava was consorting with an Indian Maha Siddha, the king imprisoned his daughter and his soldiers captured and burned Guru Rinpoche alive. When Guru Rinpoche emerged unharmed from the funeral pyre seated on a lotus flower in the center of a lake transformed from the burning fire, the king felt great remorse and realizing that Guru Rinpoche was no ordinary person, offered him his five royal robes, his kingdom and his daughter in marriage to Guru Rinpoche. Present day images and statues of Guru Rinpoche, depicts him wearing the lotus hat and robes of the King of Zahor.

The site of Princess Mandarava’s imprisonment is still preserved today by the local people and a priestess looks after the temple of Mandarava which is situated at the bottom of the pit where she was imprisoned by her father.

Around the western corner of the lake, there is an underground cave dedicated to Mandarava. This low lying cave under the buildings surrounding the lake can be reached by crouching low between rocks. The cave contains a statue of a young Mandarava in meditation.

In the hillside overlooking the lake, there are three holy caves where Guru Rinpoche and his consort Mandarava meditated. The largest of the three caves has a huge statue of Guru Rinpoche carved into the rock and the inner cave is a shrine to Mandarava who is believed to have meditated there as well. Higher into the hills is another very holy cave where Guru Rinpoche’s footprint is embedded in the cave rocks.

You can almost feel the presence of Guru Rinpoche as you look up from the lake towards the hillside where his caves are located. A giant statue of Guru Rinpoche looks down upon the lake casting its reflection in the holy lake. The modern and the ancient monuments to the existence of the great guru are seen in harmonious blending in the calm reflections of the lake surrounded by floating reeds.

Tso Pema was indeed a fitting place to bid a last goodbye to my teacher. May the Guru be with him and guide him into a swift rebirth.

–Khöndung Asanga Vajra, June 2018