Thangka Guru Rinpoche Padamsambhava Tibet Mid XIXth c.

Stunning Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava Thangka, Samye Monastery, Tibet, Mid 19th century

Size: 74cm hight, 57cm width

Splendid mid 19th century Thangka from Samye monastery, Tibet.

Object literature: Padmasambhava (lit. "Lotus-Born"), also known as Guru Rinpoche, was an 8th-century Buddhist master from the Indian subcontinent. Although there was a historical Padmasambhava, little is known of him apart from helping the construction of the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet at Samye, at the behest of Trisong Detsen, and shortly thereafter leaving Tibet due to court intrigues.

A number of legends have grown around Padmasambhava's life and deeds, and he is widely venerated as a "second Buddha" by adherents of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, the Himalayan states of India, and elsewhere.

Object history: from a Tibetan collection dating back to before 1950.