Trashigang District is Bhutan's easternmost dzongkhag (district).
Bumthang District is one of the 20 dzongkhag (districts) comprising Bhutan. It is the most historic dzongkhag if the number of ancient temples and sacred sites is counted. Bumthang consists of the four mountain valleys of Ura, Chumey, Tang and Choekhor ("Bumthang"), although occasionally the entire district is referred to as Bumthang Valley.
Buddhism is the most widely practiced religion in Bhutan. Vajrayana Buddhism is the state religion of Bhutan, and Buddhists comprise 75% and Hinduism 23% of its population. Although the Buddhism practiced in Bhutan originated in Tibetan Buddhism, it differs significantly in its rituals, liturgy, and monastic organization. The state religion has long been supported financially by the government through annual subsidies to Buddhist monasteries, shrines, monks, and nuns. In the modern era, support of the state religion during the reign of Jigme Dorji Wangchuck includes the manufacture of 10,000 gilded bronze images of the Buddha, publication of elegant calligraphic editions of the 108-volume Kangyur and the 225-volume Tengyur, and the construction of numerous chorten (stupas) throughout the country. Guaranteed representation in the National Assembly and the Royal Advisory Council, Buddhists constitute the majority of society and are assured an influential voice in public policy.
Paro is a town and seat of Paro District, in the Paro Valley of Bhutan. It is a historic town with many sacred sites and historical buildings scattered throughout the area. It is also home to Paro Airport, Bhutan's sole international airport.
Rewalsar or Tso Pema in Tibetan is a small town and a pilgrimage place in a nagar panchayat in Mandi district in India. It is located in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The local name for Rewalsar is Tri Sangam. Rewalsar Lake is a tourist spot in the area.
Rewalsar Lake, also known as Tso Pema, is a mid-altitude lake located in the mountains of the Mandi district, 22.5 km south-west from Mandi, in Himachal Pradesh, India. Its elevation is about 1,360 m above sea level, with the shoreline of about 735 m. Rewalsar Lake is a sacred spot for Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, and sacred to Tibetan Buddhists for the Vajrayana practices of Padmasambhava and Mandarava, which are credited for the lake's creation.
Tsozong Gongba Monastery is a small Tibetan Buddhism monastery in eastern Tibet, China. The monastery, founded in 1400, practices the Nyingma tradition. Tsozong Gongba is located on Tashi Island in the middle of Pagsum Lake in the Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains, part of Gongbo'gyamda County in Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. Tsozong Gongba means "castle in the lake" in Tibetan. The monastery has four buildings situated around a small yard.
Tenzin Rabgye (1638–1696) was the fourth Druk Desi who ruled from 1680 to 1694. He is believed to have been the first to have categorized formally the zorig chusum. In 1688, he renovated Tango Monastery, approximately 14 kilometres from Thimphu. In 1692, he was first formally categorized during the rule of Tenzin Rabgye (1680–1694), the 4th Druk Desi. In 1692, he visited the sacred cave of Taktsang Pelphug during the Tsechu season and founded a temple there devoted to Padmasambhava. The temple is known as Taktsang Lhakhang and was completed in 1694.
The Gangteng Monastery, generally known as Gangtey Gonpa or Gangtey Monastery, is an important monastery of Nyingmapa school of Buddhism, the main seat of the Pema Lingpa tradition. located in the Wangdue Phodrang District in central Bhutan. The Monastery, also known by the Gangten village that surrounds it, is in the Phobjikha Valley where winter visitors – the black-necked cranes – visit central Bhutan to roost, circling the monastery three times on arrival and repeating this circling when returning to Tibet. The Monastery's history traces to the early 17th century and back to the prophecies made by the well-known Terton Pema Lingpa in the late 15th century.
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.
The Nyethang Drolma Temple is a temple in Nyêtang in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China dedicated to Tara. It is associated with Atiśa (980–1054), who founded the Kadam school of Tibetan Buddhism. The monastery survived the Cultural Revolution relatively undamaged. It is dedicated to Tara, a female bodhisattva, and contains many statues and paintings of Tara.
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.
The Pemayangtse Monastery is a Buddhist monastery in Pemayangtse, near Pelling in the northeastern Indian state of Sikkim, located 110 km west of Gangtok. Planned, designed and founded by Lama Lhatsun Chempo in 1647, it is one of the oldest and premier monasteries of Sikkim, also the most famous in Sikkim. Originally started as a small Lhakhang, it was subsequently enlarged during the reign of the third Chogyal Chakdor Namgyal and Khenchen Rolpai Dorjee in the year 1705 and consecrated by the third Lhatsun Chenpo Dzogchen Jigme Pawo in the year 1710 C.E. The monastery follows the Nyingma Order of Tibetan Buddhism and controls all other monasteries of that Order in Sikkim. The monks of this monastery are normally chosen from the Bhutias of Sikkim.
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.
Könchogsum Lhakhang, also known as Tsilung, is a Buddhist monastery in central Bhutan.
Sumtrhang Monastery is a Buddhist monastery in Ura Gewog, Bhutan. It is one of the most important Bhutanese monasteries as descendants from its lineage include Pema Lingpa and hence the Wangchuck Royal family.
Ta Rimochan or Ti Rimochen is a Buddhist monastery in Bhutan belonging to the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Yonphula Lhakhang is a Buddhist monastery in Bhutan. It is situated in the Eastern District of Bhutan. The Lhakhang or monastery in Yonphula has been founded by Tantric Master Lama Karpo Rinpoche alias Lama Tshewang Penjor. He was the disciple of Tertoen Dudjom Lingpa Jigdrel Yeshi Dorji, who named him as Lama Karpo. Before he actually met with his karmic Master, Lama Karpo went to Tibet to learn and master the Tantric practices. There in Kongbu, Tibet, he has mastered and directed him by his master therefrom to visit his Karmic Master Dudjom Rinpoche. Lama Karpo Meditated in Paro Taktshang. While meditating in the cave, where Guru Rinpoche has meditated, from Guru's statue, he heard a clear voice. He was said to have astonished by this and felt himself in illusion. But, later he found to have talked to him by that very Guru Rinpoche's Statue. Subsequently, same Guru Statue voiced out to him for another time and during that time he did conversation with the statue. In later years, he went back to Trashigang and founded Yonphula Monastery. It is approximately 2700 meters above the sea level. It is few km away from the yonphula domestic airport. Currently, the abode is headed by Lama Jigme Tenzin, son of Lama Karpo. There are approximately 100 gomchens. They perform periodical rituals and other related religious rituals. There is a Meditation Center where many Gomchens do meditate for minimum of three years. After that, they are known to be tshampas or Yogi. They follow the Nyingma Tersar religion. It performs its annual Tshechu in the 10th day of 3rd month of Lunar calendar every year. It is called Trelda Tshechu.
Chimi Lhakhang, also known as Chime Lhakhang or Monastery or temple, is a Buddhist monastery in Punakha District, Bhutan. Located near Lobesa, it stands on a round hillock and was built in 1499 by the 14th Drukpa hierarch, Ngawang Choegyel, after the site was blessed by the "Divine Madman" the maverick saint Drukpa Kunley (1455–1529) who built a chorten on the site.
