Thimphu is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's dzongkhags, the Thimphu District. The ancient capital city of Punakha was replaced by Thimphu as capital in 1955, and in 1961 Thimphu was declared as the capital of the Kingdom of Bhutan by the 3rd Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.
Articles related to Bhutan include:
Buddhism is the state religion of Bhutan. According to a 2012 report by the Pew Research Center, 74.7% of the country's population practices Buddhism.
Drukpa Kunley (1455–1529), also known as Kunga Legpai Zangpo, Drukpa Kunleg, and Kunga Legpa, the Madman of the Dragon Lineage, was a Tibetan Buddhist monk, missionary, and poet in the Drukpa Kagyu lineage of the Mahamudra tradition. He was trained at Ralung Monastery under siddha Pema Lingpa. However, by the age of 25, he had returned his monastic vows to take a wife, whose name was Tsewang Dzom. He is often counted among the Nyönpa. He is considered to have been a reincarnation of Saraha.
Tashichho Dzong is a Buddhist monastery and fortress on the northern edge of the city of Thimphu in Bhutan, on the western bank of the Wang Chu. It has traditionally been the seat of the Druk Desi, the head of Bhutan's civil government, an office which has been combined with the kingship since the creation of the monarchy in 1907, and summer capital of the country. In old British documents, it is known as Tassisudon.
Paro Taktsang, is a sacred Vajrayana Himalayan Buddhist site located in the cliffside of the upper Paro valley in Bhutan. It is one of thirteen Tiger's Nest caves in historical Tibet in which Padmasambhava practiced and taught Vajrayana.
The Tango Monastery is a Buddhist monastery located 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) to the north of the capital city of Thimphu in Bhutan, near Cheri Mountain. It was founded by Phajo Drugom Zhigpo in the 13th century and built in its present form by Tenzin Rabgye, the 4th Temporal Ruler in 1688. In 1616, the Tibetan lama Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal meditated in its cave. The self-emanated form of the wrathful Hayagriva is deified in the monastery. It belongs to the Drukpa Kagyu School of Buddhism in Bhutan.
Karsha Monastery or Karsha Gompa is a Buddhist monastery in the Padum Valley of the Zanskar region of the union territory of Ladakh in northern India. The Doda River flows past the monastery from its source at the Drang Drung Glacier of the Pensi La. It was founded by the translator Phagspa Shesrab. The monastery, also known by the name Karsha Chamspaling, was founded by Phagspa Shesrab, under the Gelugpa Order or Yellow Hats. It is 11 km north of Padum in Zanskar River valley.
Trongsa Dzong is the largest dzong fortress in Bhutan, located in Trongsa in Trongsa district, in the centre of the country. Built on a spur overlooking the gorge of the Mangde River, a temple was first established at the location in 1543 by the Drukpa lama, Nagi Wangchuk son of Ngawang Chhojey. In 1647, his great-grandson Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, constructed the first dzong to replace it, called Chökhor Rabtentse Dzong with a shorter version of Choetse Dzong. It was enlarged several times during the 18th century; the Chenrezig Lhakang was built in 1715 and a whole complex, including the Maitreya (Jampa) temple, was added in 1771. The dzong has since been repaired on several occasions; it was damaged during the 1897 Assam earthquake and underwent extensive renovation in 1927 and 1999.
Tashiding Monastery is a Buddhist monastery of the Nyingma sect of Tibetan Buddhism in Tashiding, about 27 km from Gyalshing city in Gyalshing district in northeastern Indian state of Sikkim. which is the most sacred and holiest monasteries in Sikkim. It is described as the "Heart of Sikkim/Denzong", citing to its importance of religious sacredness. It is located on top of the hill rising between the Rathong chu and the Rangeet River, 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Gyalshing and 19 kilometres (12 mi) to the south east of Yuksam. The annual festival of Bumchu, meaning ~Holy water~ takes place on the 14th and 15th of the 1st month of Tibetan lunar calendar, often around the months of February and March. The festival is believed to predict the upcoming forecasts and events for Sikkim in the coming year. Undoubtedly, one of the most important and holiest festivals for all the Buddhists in Sikkim and around, it also provides for a perfect platform for all those Non-Buddhists who seek a deeper insight into Buddhism and its religious customs, beliefs and rituals. History of the Festival- Somewhere between 755 and 804 CE in Tibet under the reign of King Trisong Deutsen. It was under his rule that Guru Padmasambhava when invited to Tibet performed a holy sadhana and consecrated the land with water from his SACRED VASE, which was then later concealed as a hidden treasure in his most blessed place, the Tashiding Monastery in Sikkim. Somewhere around 17th century, the vase was again discovered by one of the reincarnations of Padmasambhava and it is since that time, this festival again resumed with all its glory and splendour in the hidden and blessed land of Sikkim/Beyul Demozong. Tashiding is the nearest town to the Tashiding Monastery (Gompa)
The Punakha Dzong, also known as Pungthang Dewa chhenbi Phodrang, is the administrative centre of Punakha District in Punakha, Bhutan. Constructed by Ngawang Namgyal, 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, in 1637–38, it is the second oldest and second-largest dzong in Bhutan and one of its most majestic structures. The dzong houses the sacred relics of the southern Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, including the Rangjung Kharsapani and the sacred remains of Ngawang Namgyal and the tertön Pema Lingpa.
The Memorial Stupa, Thimphu, also known as the Thimphu Chorten, is a stupa in Thimphu, Bhutan, located on Doeboom Lam in the southern-central part of the city near the main roundabout and Indian military hospital. The stupa, built in 1974 to honor the third Druk Gyalpo, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck (1928–1972), is a prominent landmark in the city with its golden spires and bells. In 2008, it underwent extensive renovation. It is popularly known as "the most visible religious landmark in Bhutan". It was consecrated by Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje.
Choedrak Monastery is a Buddhist monastery in Bhutan, located at an altitude of 3,800 metres, not far from Tharpaling Monastery in Bumthang District. Guru Rinpoche is said to have meditated at this spot.
Jangtsa Dumgtseg Lhakhang[zlum brtshegs lha khang] is a Buddhist temple in western Bhutan. The temple is notable as it is in the form of a chorten, very rare in Bhutan. It is located on the edge of a hill between the Paro valley and the Dopchari valley, across the bridge from Paro. The Buddhist iconography depicted in the Chorten is considered a unique repository of the Drukpa Kagyu school.
Ngang Lhakhang is a Buddhist monastery in the Choekhor Valley of central Bhutan. It is located not for from Draphe Dzong, which was the residence of the Choekhor Penlop who was ruling the valley before the Drukpa conquest in the 17th century. Also known as the "Swan temple", Ngang lies on the right side of the valley. It is a private temple, built in the 16th century by a Tibetan lama named Namkha Samdrip, who also built Namkhoe Lhakhang in the Tang Valley. Today it is a residence and in 2004 was enlarged with four guest rooms.
Phallus paintings in Bhutan are esoteric symbols, which have their origins in the Chimi Lhakhang monastery near Punakha, the former capital of Bhutan. The village monastery was built in honour of Lama Drukpa Kunley who lived at the turn of the 16th century and who was popularly known as the "Mad Saint" (nyönpa) or “Divine Madman” for his unorthodox ways of teaching, which amounted to being bizarre and shocking. These explicit paintings have become embarrassing to many of the country's urbanites, and this form of folk culture is informally discouraged in urban centers as modern Abrahamic cultural norms of shaming the human body and sexuality have spread in Bhutan's urban centers.
Pagsam Wangpo, a key figure in the history of the Drukpa Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, was born at Chonggye, in the Tsang province of Tibet a natural son of the prince of Chonggye, Ngawang Sonam Dragpa. He was an elder cousin of the 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso (1617-1682).
The Dochu La( Dochu Pass, la means pass in Dzongkha) is a mountain pass in the snow covered Himalayas within Bhutan on the road from Thimphu to Punakha where 108 memorial chortens or stupas known as "Druk Wangyal Chortens" have been built by Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk, the eldest Queen Mother. Apart from the chortens there is a monastery called the Druk Wangyal Lhakhang (temple), built in honour of the fourth Druk Gyalpo, Jigme Singye Wangchuck; the open grounds in its front yard is a venue for the annual Dochula Druk Wangyel Festival. The pass with 108 memorial chortens is adjacent to the country's first Royal Botanical Park.
Changangkha Lhakhang is a compact temple complex located on the tip of a ridge that juts towards central Thimphu from the hills to the east. Founded in the 13th or 14th centuries, it is probably the oldest surviving temple in Thimphu. The main components and foundations of the monastery are extremely old, long predating the unification of Bhutan in the 17th century by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. The temple is often frequented by parents with small children seeking to obtain blessings from the protective deity of the temple, Genyen Domtsangpa, who is considered to be the birth deity and protector of children born in JDWNRH national referral hospital in Thimphu.
