Rewalsar Lake

Mandarava and Padmasambhava were energetically drawn to one another. The local king Vihardhara, fearful of the contamination of the royal bloodline and what he perceived as Mandarava's apostasy, endeavoured to have Mandarava and Padmasambhava purified by immolation through the flames of a pyre. Instead of finding their corpses incensed and charred, Vihardhara finds that the fire of the pyre has been transformed into Lake Rewalsar, out of which arises a blooming lotus that supports the unharmed Mandarava and Padmasambhava who through this manifestation of their realisation have achieved their secret names of Vajravarahi and Hayagriva, respectively, after which Vihardhara furnishes the union with his unreserved blessings. Legend has it that the great teacher Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) used his enormous power to take flight to Tibet from Rewalsar. In Rewalsar, his spirit is said to reside in the tiny island of floating reed that drifts over the water. == Colossus of Padmasambhava ==

On April 1, 2012, a monumental statue of Padmasambhava, measuring 37.5 m (123 ft), was consecrated, blessed and inaugurated by the 14th Dalai Lama. The building project was spear-headed and overseen by Wangdor Rinpoche and funded by donations. It took nearly 10 years to complete, with the foundation alone taking three years. The statue was constructed almost entirely by hand by tradespeople from the immediate Rewalsar area and by master artists from Nepal and Bhutan. It is made primarily of cement, layered by hand over a skeleton of iron rebar, while the walls are made of hand-cut stone. Bhutanese sculptors carved intricate details into the cement while still wet. It was then painted by masters from Nepal, who finished the delicate details by hand. The building's interior is filled with traditional dzong, tsa tsas, prayer flags and medicine pills made by local craftworkers. ==See also==