Nyatri Tsenpo
| Nyatri Tsenpo | |||||||||
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| King of Tibet | |||||||||
| Reign | 127 BC – ??? | ||||||||
| Successor | Mutri Tsenpo | ||||||||
| Dynasty | Yarlung | ||||||||
| Tibetan name | |||||||||
| Tibetan | གཉའ་ཁྲི་བཙན་པོ་ | ||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 聶赤贊普 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 聂赤赞普 | ||||||||
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Nyatri Tsenpo (Tibetan: གཉའ་ཁྲི་བཙན་པོ་, lit. 'Neck-Enthroned King') was the first king of Tibet and a legendary progenitor of the Yarlung dynasty. Although stories of his origin vary, most describe him as an outsider whom the Tibetans accepted as their king because of his physical abnormalities and strength.
Tibetan Buddhist sources generally describe him as having had webbed hands, with one account stating he was an Indian prince with the additional deformity of eyelids closing from the bottom rather than the top. More recent Tibetan Buddhist sources describe him as a descendant of the Shakya clan. The Dunhuang manuscripts give Nyatri Tsenpo a more divine origin, stating that he was a sky god who descended from heaven to rule Tibet after seeing its natural beauty. Nonetheless, all accounts conclude the story of his origin with the Tibetans carrying him on their necks and shoulders and giving him the Tibetan name "Nyatri Tsenpo", which means "Neck-Enthroned King".
The start of his reign is traditionally placed at 127 BC, which marks the first year of the Tibetan calendar. According to Tibetan mythology, Nyatri Tsenpo constructed the first Tibetan building, Yungbulakang Palace. At the end of his reign, Nyatri Tsenpo is said to have ascended or returned to heaven by climbing a rope or rope ladder. Losar, the Tibetan New Year, is celebrated in his honour.