King Gesar

A Brief Introduction to King Gesar

King Gesar is the incarnation of the Master Padmasambhava in Tibetan legend. He lived a military life, promoting good and punishing evil, propagating Buddhism and culture, thus becoming the hero in Tibetans hearts.

Lifetime Story of King Gesar

King Gesar was born in the year of 1038 and died at the age of 81 years old in 1119. Set up by his uncle, he and his mother were driven out of their hometown and relied on each other.

King Gesar was the son of the supreme god Indira of Ling Kingdom. As a boy, he was very mischievous, but divine by nature and full of supernatural powers. His greatest enemy was his uncle - a cowardly, vain and pretentious man who hoped to rule the country. Set up by his uncle, the hero and his mother were banished. He was quite poor at that time and was once a cowboy during the period being banished. However, Gesar's exile enabled him to nurture his hidden strengths. He emerged victorious in a horse race to become king of the nation.

King Gesar then began conquering the "kingdoms of demons" - the Jiang and Hor (northern Mongolian people) kingdoms. The war between the Ling and Hor kingdoms constituted one of the central parts of the story. It began with a beautiful lady, Qomu, who was King Gesar's queen. The Hor king, also known as the "White Tent King", heard about her beauty and wanted to get her. When his request was refused, he sent troops to attack the Ling Kingdom. After several battles, Ling Kingdom was prevailed by Hor Kingdom and thus another girl was sent to the Hor King in the place of Qomu. But once the truth was uncovered, the battles resumed. The Ling capital, along with Queen Qomu, was finally captured by Hor troops. But King Gesar organized all his troops with the help of an important Hor general, captured the Hor capital, killed the White Tent King and rescued his queen.

In the whole life of King Gesar, he conquered many demons and evils, removing the violence. He fought in many battles and unified more than 150 tribes, making sizeable contributions to the unification and communication between different tribes of Tibet.

King Gesar in People's Hearts

King Gesar is a hero in the hearts of ancient Tibetan people. He conquered the demons and drove the evils away. As early as the 10th century and the 11th century, King Gesar had been quite popular in the Tibetan prairie, on the lakeshore of Qinghai Lake, at the foot of the lofty Moon-Sun Mountain, and on the ancient Silk Road, in the fertile Sichuan Basin as well as the hometown of peacocks – Yunnan Province. Today, people in these areas still memorize and praise King Gesar – the great hero.