Wood Stoves and Wi-Fi
Paro International Airport, Rinpung Dzong
Cover: Taktshang Goemba
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In October 2011 we traveled for 12 days with 25 others on a Stanford alumni trip in Bhutan, named “Druk Yul” (“Land of the Thunder Dragon”) in Dzongkha, the national language. We flew from Bangkok to Bhutan’s only airport in Paro and spent 3 nights in Thimpu, the capital. Two minibuses then took us on a 1-1/2-day 14-hour drive to Jakar high in the Bumthang Valley of Central Bhutan. From there we explored back to Trongsa, Punakha, and Paro, visiting dzongs, villages, temples, schools, and monasteries, and recrossing three 10,000+ foot mountain passes on the spectacular, mostly one-lane, and the only east-west road which is carved into the steep hillsides. Top speed:? About 20 mph. 2
Farmhouse (Nobding)
Our enthusiastic and skilled guides, Ugyen and Kinley, were great storytellers
Post Office (Thimpu)
Rinpung Dzong (Paro)
who introduced us to the richness of Bhutanese history which is strongly influenced by the Hindu pantheon, Tantric Buddhist tradition and teachings, and the pre-Buddhist folklore and rituals of the animistic Bon religion. Stories teach lessons in Bhutan. The images above, found all over the country, illustrate a favorite story for the Bhutanese, the tale of Four Friends: the bird planted the seed, the rabbit watered it, the monkey fertilized it, and the elephant gave it shelter to grow. The four friends then made a tower so that they could reach the highest branches to pick the fruits of their labors. The lesson: teamwork. 3
Secular and religious history are inextricably linked in Bhutan. These three figures are the core of pre-modern Bhutanese history: Guru Rinpoche, Shakyamuni Buddha, and the Zhabdrung. Often appearing as a trio of equal-sized statues in temples, they are also depicted in paintings in dzongs, temples, monasteries, and on rock walls by roadsides. Padmasambhava, known as Guru Rinpoche and referred to as the second Buddha, was born in what is now the Swat Valley, and introduced Tantric Buddhism into Bhutan in the mid 8th century. He is said to have had miraculous powers including subduing demons and evil spirits. Shakyamuni is the original Buddha. Ngawang Namgyal was a Tibetan prince and monk who fled to Bhutan in 1616 from persecution in Tibet; he took the name Zhabdrung (“at whose feet one prostrates�), and by 1646 had crushed all opposition, unifying the southern valleys of the country, and establishing the sites for and early buildings of the dzongs. He also created a form of government which was equal parts religious and and political (reflected in the dual nature of the dzongs) which endured until the hereditary monarchy was established in 1907. 4
Trongsa Dzong, King of the North
Tamshing Goemba (Chokhor Valley, Bumthang)
Statues and paintings of the guardians of the four quarters, known as the kings of the north, south, east and west, frequently protect the entrances to temples (lhakhangs), dzongs, and monasteries (goembas), warding off evil influences from all directions. They are also prayed to for material riches and are often joined by fearsome images of wrathful and beneficent beings who also help protect from dangers from outside.
Rinpung Dzong (Paro), King of the East 5
Trashi Chhoe Dzong (Thimpu)
Trongsa Dzong
Rinpung Dzong (Paro)
Dzongs serve as the regional (and in the case of Thimpu, the national) centers of government. A number of them still also contain monasteries with temples and religious ceremonial spaces in them. They usually have two or more large courtyards and a central tower separating the religious and secular wings. Entry is through a massive door leading to a narrow passageway with two right angle turns, a defensive design dating from their original construction. Several have been almost fully restored. Punakha Dzong 6
Trongsa Dzong
Rinpung Dzong (Paro)
Trongsa Dzong
Jakar Dzong 7
Punakha Dzong, King of the South
Punakha Dzong Rinpung Dzong (Paro)
Trongsa Dzong 8
Rinpung Dzong (Paro)
Punakha Dzong, King of the East (detail)
Rinpung Dzong (Paro), Wheel of Life (detail)
Rinpung Dzong (Paro)
The architecturally complex spaces in dzongs are rich in symbolic decoration. Punakha Dzong
Jakar Dzong 9
Jampey Lhakhang (Chokhor Valley, Bumthang)
Tamshing Goemba (Chokhor Valley, Bumthang)
Bumthang has the most dense concentration of historically important temples and monasteries in Bhutan. 10
Namkhe Nyingpo Goemba: Guru Rinpoche altar, torma, and Bhudda’s teachings library (Chokhor Valley, Bumthang)
Prayer flags and wheels, whether wind or hand or water (or even solar)-driven, are everywhere in Bhutan: roadsides, temples, dzongs, monasteries, and chortens - all sending out constant messages of compassion and good willl, and gaining merit and concentrating the mind on their mantras for those who turn the wheels . Prayer wheels and flags at Chimi Lhakhang (Punakha), Punakha Dzong, Zilukha Nunnery (Thimpu), near Pele La, Trongsa Dzong, and Chendebji Chorten
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Monks in training at Trongsa Dzong, Tamshing Goemba (Chokhor Valley, Bumthang), 12
Namkhe Nyingpo Goemba (Chokhor Valley, Bumthang), and Jakar Dzong
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Drukpas (Dragon People) at Pele La, Jakar Dzong, Chamkhar Village (Bumthang), Nobding Village, Paro archery grounds,
National Memorial Chorten (Thimpu), Wangdue Cholling Lower Secondary School (Bumthang), Paro, and Thimpu weekend market
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Storefronts in Paro, Thimpu, and in Chamkhar Village (Bumthang)
Phalluses, Nobding Village and Punakha Valley
The phalluses hanging from eaves and painted on farmhouses and storefronts are intended to ward off evil. They are the legacy of the Divine Madman, Drukpa Kinley, a 15th century monk who felt that Buddhist clergy had become complacent and were not reaching people with the true teachings of the Buddha. He traveled throughout Tibet and Bhutan telling crude stories and singing ribald songs to dramatise his teachings to the common man. He is said to have used his prodigious phallus, his “thunderbolt�, to kill a demoness who terrorized the countryside, and his teachings and sexual exploits make him one of Bhutan’s favorite historical figures. Chimi Lhakhang in Punakha Valley is dedicated to him.
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East of Trongsa before Yatong La
West of Pele La before Nobding
Near Khamsum Yuelley Namgyal Chorten, Punakha Valley
Jakar Dzong
Chamkhar Chhu (Chokhor Valley, Bumthang)
Mo Chhu, Punakha Valley
East of Pele La before Chendebji
Paro Valley from Taktshang trail
Dochu La 19
Guru Rinpoche arrived here on a flying tigress in 747 CE to subdue a local demon and to meditate for three months. Taktshang’s (Tiger’s Nest’s) primary temple was built in 1692. At 10,000 feet it is 2600 feet and a 2-hour hike above the valley. It has always been a holy place, and visiting it is said to be important for every Bhutanese. This was a great final day for us in Bhutan. Taktshang (Tiger’s Nest) Goemba 20
Wood Stoves and Wi-Fi? At Gongkhar Lodge in isolated and rural Bumthang our room was heated by a woodstove AND we had free wi-fi. It seemed a fitting metaphor for Bhutan and a suitable title for our photo book.
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Dragon(fly)-Takin Books Š 2011 Paul Desany and Corbin Smith