Clerics › Religious Figure
Lianhuasheng
Eighth-century tantric master from Uddiyana invited to Tibet by Trisong Detsen to help found Samye; tradition credits him with creating cham dance.
Mural of the cultural record “Tibetan Dance”, which this person is tied to.
Also known as Padmasambhava · Guru Rinpoche
- Roles
- Religious Figure
Padmasambhava, honoured as Guru Rinpoche, was a tantric master from Uddiyana, around today's Swat valley in Pakistan. Invited to Tibet by the emperor Trisong Detsen and the scholar Shantarakshita, he helped survey and design Samye, founded in 762 and completed in 775 as Tibet's first monastery with a full monastic community; the Testament of Ba is among the earliest texts recording his arrival, after which his movements are unknown. The Nyingma school reveres him as its founder. Tradition holds that cham, the masked ritual dance, began when he combined Bon ritual dance with tantric vajra dance during the building of Samye to drive out evil; Samye's cham is now a national intangible heritage item.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; came to Tibet in the later 8th century and took part in building Samye Monastery, 762–775