What's so special about this huge statue of Padamsabhava in the lake town Rewalsar around humongous Himalayan ranges of Mandi, Himachal Pradesh

 

Recently you may have observed that we are sharing a lot about Rewalsar and there is a special reason behind that which you will discover as you read through this blogpost. Today we are going to focus on one of the most special thing in Rewalsar Lake town in Himachal Pradesh - The Padamsambhava Statue on the hill. The statue of Padamsabhava is visible from almost all places in Rewalsar and that's not because it's located at hight but also because of it's huge size. Due to it's huge size it's hard to ignore the statue of Padamsabhava in Rewalsar Lake Town. Weather you are at the famous gurudwara in the town, or zoo, or Monasteries around the lake or Hindu temples or market. You will easily see this huge statue of Padamsabhava. 

Above photograph is clicked from Gurudwara at Rewalsar and offers a view of Rewalsar Lake. And on the top of the hill you can easily see this huge statue of Padamsambhava.

Rewalsar lake is in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. Mandi town comes on the way when you go to Kull/Manali from Chandigarh or Delhi. 

Like many other places, Rewalsar is approachable through road. Nearest Railway station is Una and nearest airport is in Bhutar/Kullu. For road trip to Rewalsar, Google Map is best to follow than we sharing details, but keep in mind that it's a little away from main highway which connects Delhi with Mandi.

Lot of people come to Rewalsar from Mandi town, which means they stay around Mandi town and plan a day trip to Rewalsar. 

This  statue of Padmasambhava at Rewalsar is 12 meter high and also known as Guru Rinpoche, which was installed in 2012 by Dalai Lama. When my niece looked closely at the statue, her question was - "Why Padamsambhava is sitting with 'yo 🤟' pose?". I couldn't the question well and then she asked me to look at the hands of Padamshambhava and then I realised what she means :). 

Rewalsar is visited by Budhist tourists or local travelers. At times, folks prefer to visit Rewalsar while driving back from Kullu Manali to Delhi or Chandigarh. Road connecting Mandi town to Rewalsar is pretty good now. One can take this route to hit Hamirpur or Una from Mandi. It's a highway which has improved a lot in last one year or so. 

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Rewalsar lake is also known as 'Tso Pema' and especially for  Tibetans community in the town. Are you wondering why I was mentioning this in the section about Statue of Padamsambhava? The lake is associated with Padmasambhava  who is also known as Guru Rinpoche and recognised as a second Buddha. There is a legend that the King Arashadhar of Mandi had Padmasambhava burnt alive after rumours that the Guru had attempted to teach his daughter, Princess Mandarava. As per princely protocols, it was not an accepted thing and the rumour lead King to make this decision. The pyre burned for a full week, with great clouds of black smoke arising from it, but after a week a lake appeared at the spot where he was burnt and Padmasambhava manifested himself as a 16 years old boy from within a lotus in the middle of this lake, with Mandarava in his arms. Later king married his daughter with Padmasambhava. Then Padmasambhava went to Tibet to spread Vajrayana Buddhism.

The Tsechu fair was held in Rewalsar in 2004 to commemorate the birthday of Guru Rinpoche. The fair was inaugurated by the 14th Dalai Lama and was attended by the 17th Karmapa along with 50 thousands+ other Buddhist pilgrims from different parts of the world. 

This Statue is part of Tso-Pema Orgyen Heru-kai Nyingmapa Gompa in Rewalsar.

Although Rewalsar is not very touristy place but Himachal Tourism is putting efforts to keep the place clean, and develop some beautiful parks around the lake. Above photograph shows a huge green patch around the Rewalsar Lake with lush green grass, flower plants, ducks and designated areas for seating. Above photograph is clicked from the same park overlooking the hill which has this huge statue of Padamsambhava. 

Let's come back to the question which we raised at the beginning of the blogpost - why are we sharing so frequently about Rewalsar on our blog? - Do you want to make a guess? - Please use comments section to share your guesses or the form on right (which is being preferred a lot by viewers of Travellingcamera). We would encourage to use comments section though :).

Rewalsar lake is famous for it's countless fishes. The most exciting thing to do in Rewalsar is to watch these fishes playing with each other and level of excitement can be increased if you offer them something. This time I noticed that lake is not well maintained, which is very unfortunate. Rewalsar lake has also some significance from religion point of view. We noticed some folks washing, taking water from the lake and having a sip. For a moment I couldn't believe that water of Rewalsar lake can be drunk. 

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More from Rewalsar :

Mixed feelings from our quick visit to tiny zoo in Rewalsar, a Lake Town of Himachal Pradesh

Rewalsar - A tiny Lake Town in Himachal Pradesh with 2 Buddhist Monasteries, a Gurudwara, Hindu temples and surrounded by Seven Lakes & a famous Naina Devi Temple at one of the top-most peaks around it

Back journey from Manali to Delhi via Rewalsar, Govind Sagar Lake & Bhakhra Dam

Saat Sarovar on the way from Rewalsar Lake to Naina Devi temple in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh

Naina Devi - A Hill-top temple surrounded by lakes and colorful Himalayan ranges

Fish feeding frenzy @ Rewalsar Lake, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh (India)

So this statute is visible from almost all places of Rewalsar and surroundings. This makes it most special feature of this lake town. 

If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling - 

1. Manage your waste well and don’t litter Use dustbins.

2. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin. 

3. Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem. 

4. Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits. 

5. Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite.