Songtsen Gampo was born at Gyama in Meldro, northeast of modern Lhasa. His dad was the Yarlung king Namri Songtsen. The book "The Holder of the White Lotus" says Gampo was the human form (incarnation) of the Avalokiteśvara. Dalai Lamas are also thought to be human forms of the Avalokitesvara. In the 11th century, Buddhists started calling him a cakravartin and incarnation of Avalokiteśvara.