Rewalsar or Tso Pema in Tibetan is a small town and a pilgrimage place in a nagar panchayat in mandi district in india. It is located in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The local name for Rewalsar is Trisangam. The Rewalsar Lake is one of the most popular tourist places here.
Rewalsar is located at an altitude of 1360 m above sea level. It is connected to Mandi by a motorable road and is about 25 km from Mandi. Lying in the Southern Himalayan belt, winters in Rewalsar can be freezing, while summers are generally pleasant.
Religion
Rewalsar is sacred to adherents of three major Dharma religions - Hinduism, Buddhismand Sikhism.
Hinduism
Seven lakes associated with the Pandavas of Mahabharata are located above Rewalsar.Also associated with Rewalsar are the legends of Lord Shiva and Lomas Rishi. There is also a famous Krishna temple in the town.
The Hindu history of Rewalsar is found in Skanda Purana. A Hindu sage named Lomas was searching for place to worship. He traveled and climbed the top of Drona mountain, from the top of mountain he saw a beautiful lake surrounded by beautiful trees, flowers and birds. He decided to meditate at the bank of the lake, written as Hridyaleshwar in Skanda Purana. He meditated here, and Lord Shiva and Goddesses Parvati blessed him by imparting the secrets of this place where all the Devas and Ganas are in the form of flowers, and trees.
Sikhism
The tenth Guru of Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singhvisited Rawalsar to consult with kings of the Hill states seeking support against the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. He stayed at Rawalsar for a month. Raja Joginder Sen of Mandi built a gurudwara at Rawalsar in 1930 to commemorate the Guru's visit.The place is particularly sacred to Namdhari Sikhs due to its mention in Sau Sakhi as a sanctuary.
The famous Rewalsar lake ('Tso Pema' to Tibetans) is associated with Padmasambhava(also known as Guru Rinpoche), who is recognized as a second Buddha. One version of a legend has it that the King Arashadhar of Mandi had Padmasambhava burnt alive after rumours that the Guru had attempted to teach his daughter, Princess Mandarava the Dharma, which was not accepted then. 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-year-old boy from within a lotus in the middle of the lake, with Mandarava in his arms. The king, repenting his actions, married his daughter with Padmasambhava. It was from Tso Pema that Padmasambhava went to Tibet to spread Vajrayana Buddhism.
The Tsechu fair was held in Rewalsar in 2004 to commemorate the birthday of Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava). The fair was inaugurated by the 14th Dalai Lama and was attended by the 17th Karmapa along with 50,000 other Buddhist pilgrims.[9] The fair was held after a gap of 12 years.
Rewalsar came to be known as a sacred place for Buddhists and there are two Buddhist monasteries also known as Gompas; the Drikung Kagyu Gompa and Tso-Pema Orgyen Heru-kai Nyingmapa Gompa.
There is a huge (37.5 m or 123 ft) new statue of Padmasmabhava that was consecrated, blessed and inaugurated by the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet on 1 April 2012.
The present head of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, Gyalwang Drukpa, was born here in 1963.
It is also home to more than 50 nuns living in the holy caves in retreat and prayers. The Holy Caves is visited by bhuddhist pilgrim as well as tourists from around India, Nepal, Bhutan...
Read more
Learn more insights from Wanderboat AI.
