Padmasambhava at Tak Tok Monastery | Photos of Ladakh

Photo of a statue of Padmasambhava, Guru Rinpoche, at Tak Tok monastery in Ladakh.

Tak Tok is the only Nyingma monastery in Ladakh. It is built around a smoke-blackened cave that Padmasambhava is said to have meditated in.
We were there for a dramatic Padmasambhava festival in 2007 but this photo was taken 12 years later.
Half an hour's drive from Tok Tok is the monastery of Chemre which has another splendid statue of Padmasambhava with a more compassionate expression. Padmasambhava's expression is always enigmatic and complex: compassion, sadness, frustration, anger and reprimand are all there. The shade of expression is commissioned by the monks.

In Ladakh and Tibet, Padmasambhava is known as Guru Rinpoche and the temples dedicated to Padmasambhava are labelled Guru Lhakhang. In the museum at Chemre we came across an old statue of Padmasambhava with these verses:

"When you face the bad times of the dark age,
Every day and night, I will come to you,
Riding the rays of the sun".

Guru Padmasambhava

You can order the print with or without the text.

Photo by Silk Road Gallery director Peter Bennion, 2019.

A guide to approx sizes
A3: paper size 42x29.7cm, image size 40x28cm
A2: paper size 59.4x42cm, image size 57x40cm
70x50cm paper size, image size 68x48cm

Photo by Silk Road Gallery director Peter Bennion, 2012.

See our book & videos of Tibet