How did older sacred sites become incorporated into newer religious traditions in Tibet?

In Tibet, older sacred sites were often incorporated into newer religious traditions through a process of cultural and religious synthesis, particularly as Tibetan Buddhism absorbed elements of the indigenous Bon religion.1

This integration frequently involved the reinterpretation of existing sacred spaces:

• Recontextualization of Deities: Indigenous gods associated with the atmosphere, earth, and subterranean regions—once central to Bon—were relegated to the status of lesser deities within the Buddhist pantheon.1
• Symbolic Appropriation: Sites like Mount Kailash, originally a "soul mountain" (bla ri) and the center of the ancient Zhangzhung kingdom in the Bon tradition, were adopted by Buddhists. Buddhists identified the mountain as Mount Meru, the center of the universe, and integrated it into a natural mandala where Buddhist deities were visualized as dwelling.23
• Legendary Encounters: Traditions often describe Buddhist figures, such as the ascetic master Milarepa, engaging in magical duels with Bon practitioners to claim these sites as Buddhist refuges.3
• Structural Continuity: Older sacred sites were sometimes physically built upon or repurposed. For instance, the Potala Palace contains the Chogyal Drubphuk and Phakpa Lhakhang, which are remnants from a 7th-century palace, preserved as the most holy areas within the later Buddhist complex.4