Tso Pema Caves, Rewalsar

Padmasambhava reportedly meditated at a location high in the mountain range above Rewalsar.

It takes about an hour to reach Guru Padmasambhava's cave from the main city of Rewalsar. It takes time to travel the single-lane mountainous road. With several blind turns and a lack of guest houses or signs.

The supposed sites are almost 10km by road but only 1.5km on foot, although it is a steep 1¼ hour walk using shortcuts starting from the steps behind the large statue of Padmasambhava.

After climbing the hills above Tso Pema, you have to walk up to the caves. Most of the path is quite well paved and has stairs.

It's a pleasant walk through some rocky but grassy areas filled with Tibetan prayer flags. The landscape is punctuated by cliffs and rocks.

At the top there is a convent with small temples, a cafe for visitors, and dotting the hillside are numerous modest stone huts and cave entrances currently used by nuns and other retreatants.

In a cave there is a large statue of Guru Rinpoche, built in a corner where above his head there is a natural opening that reveals daylight.

Just beyond this section is a smaller connected cave dedicated to his consort, Princess Mandarava.

Nuns' convent, retreat huts next to the caves.
The large rock on the right side of the photo is where the cave with the large statue of Padmasambhava is located.

Tso Pema Caves.
The large rock on the right side of the photo is where the cave with the large statue of Padmasambhava is located.

Entrance gate to the convent and caves.

Entrance gate.

Entrance gate arch.
Hanging from the arch of the entrance gate is a bell with which visitors announce their arrival.

There are many stairs to climb.

View of Sukha Sar lake from the stairs.
Seven lakes associated with the Pandavas of Mahabharata are located above Rewalsar.

Prayer flags.
Tibetan prayer flags are made of colorful rectangular cloth, often found strung along trails and peaks high in the Himalayas. They are used to bless the surrounding countryside and for other purposes.

There are two kinds of prayer flags: horizontal ones, called Lung ta (meaning "Wind Horse" in Tibetan), and vertical ones, called Darchog (meaning "flagstaff").
Lung ta (horizontal) prayer flags are of square or rectangular shape, and are connected along their top edges to a long string or thread. They are commonly hung on a diagonal line from high to low between two objects (e.g., a rock and the top of a pole) in high places such as the tops of temples, monasteries, stupas, and mountain passes.
Darchog (vertical) prayer flags are usually large single rectangles attached to poles along their vertical edge. Darchog are commonly planted in the ground, mountains, cairns, and on rooftops, and are iconographically and symbolically related to the Dhvaja.
See more at Prayer flag, Lung ta/Darchog styles - Wikipedia.

The stairs continue up the slope.

Sukha Sar lake seen from above.

Reaching the top of the stairs.

At the top of the stairs are prayer wheels.
Prayer wheels are cylindrical wheels (Tibetan: 'khor lo) on a spindle made of metal, wood, stone, leather or thick cotton, widely used in Tibet and in areas where Tibetan culture is predominant.

Traditionally, a mantra is written in Ranjana script or Tibetan script, on the outside of the wheel. The mantra Om mani padme hum is most commonly used, but other mantras may be used as well.
Also sometimes depicted are dakinis, Protectors and very often the eight auspicious symbols (ashtamangala). At the core of the cylinder is a "life tree" often made of wood or metal with certain mantras written on or wrapped around it. Many thousands (or in the case of larger prayer wheels, millions) of mantras are then wrapped around this life tree.
According to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, spinning such a wheel will have much the same meritorious effect as orally reciting the prayers.
See more at Prayer wheel - Wikipedia.

The nuns welcome us with a cup of tea.
Tso Pema Caves It is also home to more than 50 nuns living in the holy caves in retreat and prayers.

The Holy Caves are visited by buddhist pilgrims as well as tourists from around India, Nepal, Bhutan and China, etc.

Entrance door to the cave.

Entering the cave.

After the door there is a vestibule.

Altars and showcases with statues.
At the end of the vestibule are altars and showcases with many statues.

Going up to another hall.

Another showcase with statues.

Going up even further towards the main hall.

In the main hall is the large statue of Padmasambhava.
Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus") was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from medieval India who taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries).

Padmasambhava later came to be viewed as a central figure in the transmission of Buddhism to Tibet.
In modern Tibetan Buddhism, Padmasambhava is considered to be a Buddha that was foretold by Buddha Shakyamuni.
According to traditional hagiographies, his students include the great female masters Yeshe Tsogyal and Mandarava.
The contemporary Nyingma school considers Padmasambhava to be a founding figure.
See more at Padmasambhava - Wikipedia.

Stéphane Martin explains the symbolism of the statue to us.
Padmasambhava has one face and two hands. He is wrathful and smiling. He blazes magnificently with the splendour of the major and minor marks. His two eyes are wide open in a piercing gaze. He is seated with his two feet in the royal posture.

On his head he wears a five-petalled lotus hat, which has three points symbolizing the three kayas, the sun and moon symbolizing skillful means and wisdom, a vajra top to symbolize unshakable samadhi, and a vulture's feather to represent the realization of the highest view.
In his right hand, he holds a five-pronged vajra at his heart. His left hand rests in the gesture of equanimity. In his left hand he holds a skull-cup brimming with nectar, containing the vase of longevity that is also filled with the nectar of deathless wisdom and ornamented on top by a wish-fulfilling tree.
Cradled in his left arm he holds the three-pointed trident (khatvanga) symbolizing the Princess consort Mandarava, one of his two main consorts, who arouses the wisdom of bliss and emptiness, concealed as the three-pointed trident. Other sources say that the trident represents the Lady Yeshe Tsogyal, his primary consort and main disciple. Its three points represent the essence, nature and compassionate energy (ngowo, rangshyin and tukjé). Below these three prongs are three severed heads, dry, fresh and rotten, symbolizing the dharmakaya, sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya. Nine iron rings adorning the prongs represent the nine yanas. The trident is also adorned with locks of hair from dead and living mamos and dakinis, as a sign that the Master subjugated them all when he practised austerities in the Eight Great Charnel Grounds.
See more at Padmasambhava, Iconography - Wikipedia.

Going down to an attached hall.

Shrine to Mandarava.
Mandarava was, along with Yeshe Tsogyal, one of the two principal consorts of Padmasambhava. Mandarava is considered to be a female guru-deity in Tantric Buddhism or Vajrayana.

she was born a princess in Zahor, Bengal in eastern India. She renounced her royal birthright at an early age in order to practice the Dharma. Mandarava is known as being highly educated at a very young age, a rare accomplishment for a woman at that time. She was the primary student of Yeshe Tsogyal.
Mandarava is said to have attained full enlightenment in the company of Padmasambhava in the Maratika Cave in Nepal. She is considered to have been a fully realized spiritual adept, yogini, and spiritual teacher.
See more at Mandāravā - Wikipedia.

Leaving the cave through the vestibule.

Drinking tea offered by the nuns.

Admiring the landscape while drinking the tea.
Sukha Sar lake can be seen in the background.

Small nun sanctuary.

Mala (rosary) waiting to be used.
A japamala or simply mala (meaning 'garland') is a loop of prayer beads commonly used in Dharmic religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism for counting recitations when performing japa (reciting a mantra or other sacred sound) or for counting some other sadhana (spiritual practice) such as prostrating before a holy icon. They are similar to other forms of prayer beads used in various world religions, such as the "misbaha" in Islam and the "rosary" in Catholicism.

The main body of a mala is usually 108 beads of roughly the same size and material as each other though smaller versions, often factors of 108 such as 54 or 27, exist. A distinctive 109th "guru bead", not used for counting, is very common.
Mala beads have traditionally been made of a variety of materials such as wood, stone, seeds, bone and precious metals—with various religions often favouring certain materials—and strung with natural fibres such as cotton, silk, or animal hair.
See more at Japamala - Wikipedia.

Path to Padmasambhava's secret cave.
The secret cave of Padmasambhava is behind the nuns' convent.

Weisang stove (left), top of the stairs (center) and prayer weels (right).
At the top of the stairs is a Weisang stove.

Weisang is an ancient and widespread Tibetan custom. According to the traditional Weisang ritual: first cypress and juniper branches and herbs are piled up and lit. In the fire and smoke roasted barley flour or grain is placed along with a few drops of holy water.
Weisang is done on many occasions, such as to celebrate a bumper harvest, ward off attacks by enemies, defeat an opposing team, bring peace and prosperity, attract good luck to a weddings or funerals, ensure safety on a road trip, and ward off illnesses.
As an everyday act of worship, Tibetans commonly burn some cedar or juniper branches with herbs outside temples and monasteries and in front of the gates at their homes to eliminate the evil and purify the air.

Starting our descent down the stairs.
Sukha Sar lake can be seen at sunset.

The staircases are lined with colorful prayer flags.

Prayer flag with wind horse.
The wind horse is a symbol of the human soul in the shamanistic tradition of East Asia and Central Asia. In Tibetan Buddhism, it was included as the pivotal element in the center of the four animals symbolizing the cardinal directions and a symbol of the idea of well-being or good fortune. It has also given the name to a type of prayer flag that has the five animals printed on it.

On prayer flags and paper prints, windhorses usually appear in the company of the four animals of the cardinal directions, which are "an integral part of the rlung ta composition": garuda or kyung, and dragon in the upper corners, and White Tiger and Snow Lion in the lower corners.
In this context, the wind horse is typically shown without wings, but carries the Three Jewels, or the wish fulfilling jewel. Its appearance is supposed to bring peace, wealth, and harmony. The ritual invocation of the wind horse usually happens in the morning and during the growing moon. The flags themselves are commonly known as windhorse. They flutter in the wind, and carry the prayers to heaven like the horse flying in the wind.
See more at Wind Horse - Wikipedia.