Rewalsar Lake sits in a small bowl twenty-five kilometres south of Mandi, at 1,360 metres. It is one of the most striking small lakes in Himachal: an almost circular dark-green pool, ringed at the water's edge by Hindu temples, Buddhist gompas and a small Sikh gurudwara, with the surrounding hills rising steeply behind. A walk around the lake takes thirty minutes.
The Buddhist presence is the most visible — three monasteries belonging to the Nyingma, Drukpa Kagyu and Drikung Kagyu lineages, with the giant golden statue of Padmasambhava on the eastern shore now a landmark visible from the road in. The annual Tso Pema festival in February or March, marking Padmasambhava's birthday, fills the village with Tibetan pilgrims. A short hike from the lake leads up to the Padmasambhava caves above the village, where he is said to have meditated.