Religion

Tibetan religion

Bön is the ancient traditional religion of the Tibetan people. Buddhism was introduced into Tibet when King Songtsen Gampo married Princesses Wencheng from China, who came to Tibet with a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha. Then after Songtsen Gampo founded the first Buddhist temple. By the second half of the 8th century he was already regarded as an embodiment of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

Buddhism developed widely when Padmasambhava, whom is an Indian Buddhist scholars and known as Guru Rinpoche, who visited Tibet at the invitation of Trisong Deutson- the 38th Tibetan king.

Tibetan Buddhism is practiced not only in Tibet but also in Mongolia, parts of northern India, some other parts in China…etc. Since 11th century, its strong influence exerts among the peoples of Central Asia, especially in Mongolia and Northeast of China. It was adopted as an official state religion by Yuan Dynasty (1206A.D-1368A.D) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) that ruled China.

Nowadays Tibetan Buddhism has formed four main traditions, which are Gelug (Pa), Sakya (Pa), Nyingma (Pa), Kagyu (Pa).