Achi Choki Drolma
Achi Chokyi Drolma, an historical person of the 12th century.
Born in the 11th century in Central Tibet, the Lady (achi) Chokyi Drolma was always preoccupied with spiritual practice. Believing that great things would come from her offspring and future generations she sought out and married a good man. She had four sons each of whom became a great ascetic or scholar. As a great Tantric practitioner herself and a great teacher in her own right, in a large cave before her many students, she once conducted a sacramental feast transforming a human corpse into a sacred offering. At that time she vowed to be a protector of Buddhism and composed a liturgy for invoking herself as a protector deity. Upon completion of the verses, appearing on the back of a blue horse she flew into the air and departed for a distant Buddhist heaven. Later, her great-grandson Jigten Sumgon (1143-1217), the founder of a large and influential tradition of Buddhism, Drigung Kagyu, also composed a liturgy for his famous great-grandmother and established her as a principal religious protector of the tradition.
King Gesar
Gesar is a folk hero of Eastern Tibet and predominantly known through literature and live performance. He is believed to have lived around the 10th century. The stories of Gesar, epic in size, are brought to life through dramatic performances, song and public readings of his many adventures. It is quite possibly the longest epic poetry in the world. Despite the popularity of all of this there is relatively little found in the way of art: paintings, murals and sculpture. What objects are known are also dated very late – 19th and 20th centuries. The general depiction of Gesar is of a Tibetan warrior, atop a horse, clad in armor and a helmet with elaborate flag pennants and streamers, accompanied by eight horseman up to thirty horsemen.
