Chorten
Kora Festival
18th February 2011
Chorten Kora is located in Trashiyangtse,
the easternmost district of Bhutan. One can reach Trashiyangtse
after two hours drive from Trashigang following the banks
of Dangmechu and Kholungchu rivers.
The Chorten (Stupa) was built by Lama Ngawang
Loday in 1740 in memory of his late uncle, Jungshu Pesan and
also to subdue a demon that lived where the Chorten now stands.
It is believed to be a replica of the Boudhnath stupa in Nepal
and was consecrated by the 13th chief Abbot of Bhutan Je Sherub
Wangchuk. Today, it is considered one of the most important
historical Buddhist structures.
It was built so that pilgrims could visit
the temple in Trashiyangtse instead of making a trip to Nepal.
Further, a legend states that a young girl from Tawang, believed
to have been a Khando (Dakini) agreed to be buried alive inside
the Chorten. For this reason a ritual known as Dakpa Kora
is organized every year where hundreds of people from Arunachal
Pradesh known as the Dakpas make it to Chorten Kora to circumambulate.
Dakpa Kora is held on the 15th day of the
3rd month corresponding to 28th February and Drukpa Kora (circumbulation
by the Bhutanese) is held on the 30th day corresponding to
15th March every year
Gomphu Kora Festival
13th - 15th March 2011
The Great Circumambulation at Gomphu
Gomphu Kora lies in the heart of the agrarian belt of eastern
Bhutan. It is 23 kilometres from Trashigang Dzong, the headquarters
of Bhutan’s most populous district, and two kilometers
from Duksum, a quaint hamlet consisting of a few shops.
Gomphu means “Meditation Cave”
and Kora means “Circumambulation”. The name is
derived from a cave formed out of a rock-face next to a temple
that has been built as a tribute to this sacred site.
The story of Gomphu Kora goes back to the 8th century AD.
Legend has it that an evil non-human spirit named Myongkhapa
escaped from Samye in Tibet when Guru Padmasambhava, the progenitor
of the Nyingma strand of Buddhism, was spreading the Dharma
in the Himalayas. Myongkhapa followed the course of the present-day
Kholongchhu stream and concealed himself inside a rock where
Gomphu Kora stands today. The Guru followed the evil, mediated
for three days inside the rock cave and finally vanquished
it.
Several prominent religious personalities
have undertaken pilgrimage to Gomphu Kora and the earliest
was Gongkhar Gyal, grandson of Lhasay Tsangma. He built a
small shrine at Gomphu Kora around the 10th century A.D. In
the 14th century, Terton Pema Lingpa, visited Gomphu Kora
and enlarged the existing shrine. It was renovated and enlarged
in the 15th century by Yongzin Ngagi Wangchuk, the grandfather
of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel. He also inscribed murals on
the walls of the temple.
The biggest attraction of Gomphu Kora is the circumambulation.
“Go around Gomphu Kora today for tomorrow may be too
late”, so goes a local song that entices devotees to
visit Gomphu Kora. And like herds of stampeding buffaloes,
the place comes alive, once every year from 23rd to 25th March,
when people all over eastern Bhutan descend upon the narrow
valley, dressed in their finery, to partake in the festivity,
to worship and to reunite themselves with their illustrious
past.
The sanctity of the three day religious
festival equally draws the Dakpa tribe in neighboring Arunachael
Pradesh (India) who endures days of travel on foot amid rugged
environs with entire families in tow. Some say the Dakpas
have done this for more than a millennium, beginning shortly
after Guru Padmasambhava sanctified the place in the 8th century
AD.
The Guru is attributed to have said that
devotees will flock to Gomphu Kora for eons to celebrate the
triumph of good over evil. There couldn’t be a more
accurate prophesy.
Jampa Lhakhang Festival
10th - 14th November 2011
Jampa lhakhang is located in Bumthang and is situated on
the way to the Kurjie Lhakhang. It’s a ten minutes drive
to the temple from the Chamkhar town.
Jampa Lhakhang is one of the oldest temples in the kingdom.
It was founded by, Songtsen Gampo, a Tibetan King in the 7th
century AD. The king was destined to build 108 temples known
as Thadhul- Yangdhul (temples on and across the border) in
a day to subdue the demoness that was residing in the Himalayas.
The temple is one of the two of the 108 built in Bhutan. The
other is the Kichu lhakhang in Paro, believed to have been
built on the same day.
Legend has it that Guru Rinpoche visited the site several
times and deemed it exceptionally sacred. Chakhar Gyab, the
king of the Iron Castle of Bumthang renovated the temple in
the 8th century AD.
The first king of Bhutan, Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuck constructed
the Dus Kyi Khorlo (Kala Chakra- Wheel of Time) inside the
temple, to commemorate his victory over his rivals Phuntsho
Dorji of Punakha and Alu Dorji of Thimphu after the battle
of Changlimithang in 1885. Later, Ashi Wangmo, the younger
sister of the second king of Bhutan, built the Chorten lhakhang.
The main relics include the future Buddha, Jowo Jampa (Maitreya)
from whose name the present name of the temple is derived.
The lhakhang also houses more than one hundred statues of
the gods of Kalachakra built by the first king, in 1887. Here,
one of the most spectacular festivals is hosted called Jambay
lhakhang Drup that lasts for five days beginning from 22nd
October till the 26th. The highlight of the festival is the
fire ritual that is held in the evening where crowds gather
to witness the ritual together with the naked dance.
Kurje Festival
10th July 2011
The temple is located at Kurje in the Chokhor valley in
Bumthang district. It is a 15 minutes drive from the Chamkhar
town.
The history of the temples at Kurje is associated with Sindhu
Raja and Guru Rinpoche. Sindhu Raja invited Guru Rinpoche
from Nepal to Bhutan. Upon invitation, Guru Rinpoche visited
Bumthang and meditated in a cave that resembled a pile of
vajras (dorjis). After subduing the evil spirits and demons,
imprints of the Guru Rinpoche’s body remained. Thereafter,
the name came to be known as Kurje meaning-imprint of the
body. The present place of the Lhakhang remains as a blessed
and historical site.
There are three main temples at Kurje. The oldest temple
was constructed by the Minjur Tenpa in 1652 on the site where
Guru Rinpoche meditated when he was serving as the first Trongsa
Penlop (Governor of Trongsa).
The second temple was founded by Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuck
in 1900 while serving as the 13th Trongsa Penlop. This temple
is the most sacred as it was built in the place where Guru
Rinpoche left his body imprint.
The third temple was built in the 1990s. It was sponsored
by the Queen Mother Ashi Kezang Choden Wangchuck. It houses
the images of Guru Rinpoche, King Thrisong Detsen and Pandit
Santarakshita and the Sixteen arhats or the Siddhis.
In front of the temples are Chortens dedicated to the first
three kings of Bhutan. Kurje festival is an important festival
for local people of Bumthang and also for the rest of the
Bhutanese. Many tourists and Bhutanese come together to witness
the colorful festival for blessing and appreciation of the
different mask dances. One will not only get the blessings
by witnessing the age old mask dances and traditional Bhutanese
dances but also enjoy this unique culture while also enjoying
the beauty of Bhutan’s spritual district.
Lhuentse Festival
2nd – 4th January 2011
Lhuenste is one of the easternmost districts in Bhutan that
borders with the autonomous region of Tibet. It is the ancestral
home of our Kings and hosts a number of important and sacred
monuments. The most important amongst others is the Dzong
that sits majestically on a ridge overlooking the Kurichu
river. A small hermitage and a temple was built in 1552 by
Ngagi Wangchuk, and later enlarged into its present status
by Zhabdrung Nawang Namgyal.
Almost every village in Lhuenste boasts of festivals that
are unique to other communities in Bhutan. Some notable festivals
are the Cha and the Ha festivals that are celebrated to honor
the deities and avert misfortunes. However, the important
festival where people congregate in large numbers is the annual
three day festival. The festival is normally celebrated in
the month of November and besides the tshechus and the masked
dances, one can also receive blessings from some of the important
relics that is publicly displayed. The other aspect of the
tshechu is the colourful attire of Kushithara that Lhuentse
is famous for. One can come across various patterns of Kira
and rich ornaments that are displayed.
Monger Festival
2nd - 5th December 2011
Mongar in eastern Bhutan is largely known as the “Bastion
of the Zhongarps,” after the illustrious Dzongpons of
Zhongar that played significant role in the history of Bhutan.
One can still see the ruins of the Zhongar Dzong next to the
highway in Lingmethang before reaching Mongar. The main inhabitants
are the Tshanglas and the Kurtoeps. They speak the tshanglakha
and the Kurtoepaikha and are famous for wood carvings and
extracting oil from lemon grass.
The new Dzong in Mongar was built at the initiative of the
third King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck in 1953. Today the dzong
is the centre of administration where all important decisions
are taken.
The highlight of the dzong is the annual three day tshechu
that is held in the month of November. It is witnessed by
people from as far as Trashigang and Lhuentse.
Nimalung Festival
8th - 10th July 2011
Nimalung Lhakhang is located in Chumey in Bumthang. It is
approximately a 15 minute drive from the road that branches
off from the village of Chumey. The Lhakhang was co-founded
by Dasho Gonpo Dorji and Doring Trulku Jamyang Kunzang, the
third mind reincarnation of Terton Jigme Lingpa in 1935. Doring
Trulku visited Bhutan from Kham in Tibet. He came via the
Monlakarchung pass and met Jamyang Tshundru and his son Choney
Pelden who invited him to Shugdra. They later became his disciples.
Doring Trulku left Shugdra for Nyimalung. He set to read the
text but couldn’t complete reading it a hundred times
as he had to perform rituals after the demise of Dasho Jamyang,
the father-in-law of the Second King Jigme Wangchuck.
It was during the funeral ceremonies that Doring Trulku
met Dasho Gonpo Dorji, son of Dasho Jamyang. Gonpo Dorji,
on becoming the new hereditary Dungpa (sub district administrator)
of Chumey immediately thought of laying the foundation of
a Lhakhang. Along with Doring Trulku he decided to open a
monastic institution to uphold the school of Buddhism enriched
by Kuenkhen Longchen and Jigme Lingpa.
The main relic of the two-storied temple is the statue of
Guru Rinpoche. The monastery is decorated with murals of the
Nyingmapa and Drukpa traditions. There are also paintings
of Guru Rinpoche and his disciples, the lineage of Terton
Pema Lingpa, and several masters affiliated with the monastery.
One of the most important festivals held at the Lhakhang is
the Kaling Zhitro Drubchen. It was initiated by Doring Trulku
and he was the first person to have started the rite in Bhutan.
It is held on the first fifteen days of the first month of
the Bhutanese calendar.
The festival is held every year in the 5th month of the
Bhutanese calendar, where the nine meters high and twelve
meters wide Guru Rinpoche Thongdrol (large Scroll Painting)
is unfurled. The Thongdrol which was donated by Lopen Pemala
was consecrated in June 1994 in the presence of a large crowd
of villagers by Lhalung Thuksey Rinpoche, the mind reincarnation
of Pema Lingpa. During the festival, a series of mask dances
are performed.
|
BHUTAN FESTIVALS
