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49-424: Khamdang Gewog consists of 18 villages with 617 households, covering an area of 44.5 square km with the population of 4320. The gewog is very dry mainly due to less forest coverage. Since it is in a dry zone, the most dominant land use categories in the gewog are dry land and Pangshing followed by the wetland and some Tseri cultivation. The major crops grown are maize, wheat, buckwheat and potato. While rice are grown on

98-407: A gecko ". The main cave is entered through a narrow passage. The dark cave houses a dozen images of Bodhisattvas and butter lamps flicker in front of these idols. An elegant image of Chenrezig ( Avalokitesvara ) is also deified here. In an adjoining small cell, the sacred scripture is placed; the importance of this scripture is that it has been scripted with gold dust and the crushed bone powder of

147-464: A divine Lama. It is also said that the monks who practice Vajrayana Buddhism (the formal State Religion of Bhutan) at this cave monastery live here for three years and seldom go down to the Paro valley. All the buildings are interconnected through steps and stairways made in rocks. There are a few rickety wooden bridges along the paths and stairways also to cross over. The temple at the highest level has

196-405: A fire broke out in the main building of the monastery complex, which contained valuable paintings, artifacts and statues. The fire is believed to have been caused by electrical short-circuiting or flickering butter lamps lighting the hanging tapestries. A monk also died during the fire. The restoration works were undertaken at an estimated cost of 135 million ngultrum . The Government of Bhutan and

245-492: A frieze of Buddha. Each building has a balcony, which provides lovely views of the scenic Paro valley down below. The Monasteries have ancient history of occupation by monks, as hermitages. Taktshang Zangdo Pari is the place where Padmasmbahava's wife, known as the “Fairy of Wisdom”, Yeshe Tshogyal (Ye-shes mtsho-rgyal), the founder of the Mon, a convent, by the same name as Taktshang and also two other convents. The present caretaker of

294-470: A rock above the principal building although there is no trace of the original one. The Taktsang Ugyen Tsemo complex, which was rebuilt after a fire in 1958 is said to date back to 1408. Taktsang remained under the authority of the Kathogpa lamas for centuries until the mid 17th century. In the 17th century the well-known Tertön Pema Lingpa of Bumthang, who founded many monasteries in various parts of Bhutan,

343-416: A sacred pool, is forded over by a bridge. The track terminates at the main monastery where colorful paintings are displayed. Guru Rinpoche's cave where he meditated is also seen. This cave is opened for public viewing only once a year. The monastery buildings consist of four main temples and residential shelters ideally designed by adapting to the rock (granite) ledges, the caves and the rocky terrain. Out of

392-551: Is also the residence of the Head Lama, Karma Thupden Chokyi Nyenci. The “Copper-Coloured Mountain Paradise of Padmasambahva” (Zangdopari) is vividly displayed in a heart shape on every thangkha and also painted on the walls of the monastery as a constant reminder of the legend. The paintings are set on a pedestal that represents the realm of the King of Nagas amidst Dakinis (mKha-hgro-ma), and

441-403: Is colorfully festooned with moss and prayer flags. On many days, clouds shroud the monastery and give an eerie feeling of remoteness. Near the beginning of the trail is a water-powered prayer wheel, set in motion by a flowing stream. The water that is touched by the wheel is said to become blessed and carries its purifying power into all life forms in the oceans and lakes that it feeds into. On

490-471: Is drawn in the backdrop with four faces painted with different colors – the east face is in crystal white color, the south face is yellow, the west is in red color and the north has green color. The palace has four sides and eight corners with its lower and upper tiers adorned with jewels. The courtyard with four enclosures is said to represent four kinds of conduct. The walls are built with bricks, balconies have been bejewelled with religious symbols. The ambience

539-515: Is further embellished around the Guru Rinpoche (Padmashambahava) image and also in the palace, with gods and goddesses in the heavens, with gate keepers at the four gates with an army of messengers and servants; all trying to crush the demons to dust. The supporting staff shown are said to represent the Himalayan tribes of pre-Buddhist periods. After the revision of visa policy of Bhutan in 2023, it

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588-507: Is one of the three unique holy places founded by Guru Rinpoche , the other being Aja and Hungrel , where the letters AH and HUM can be seen in different dzongkhags. It is believed that a short crawl through a narrow cave passage on the cliff above the Lhakhang will rid one of impurities, while one can scramble even higher up the cliff through a crack in the rock. According to the history of Omba Ney, Guru Rinpoche meditated for 2 months, subduing

637-410: Is shown in the form of wishing trees, fountains of the water of life, rain bows in five colors with cloud formations and light emanating from lotus flowers. The palace is also shown with a throne with eight corners fully and curiously bejewelled. Padmasmbahva is shown sitting on a pure stalk of lotus emitting divine energy appearing “divine, charitable, powerful, or fierce”. Further detailing depicted on

686-459: Is the view point for visitors and there is a cafeteria to provide refreshments. The trek beyond this point is very scenic with the sound of the water fall breaking the silence. Along the trek route blue pine trees, prayer flags and kiosks selling paraphernalia for worship (such as prayer wheels, temple bells and skulls) are seen. The route is scattered with number of temples. On this path, a large water fall, which drops by 60 metres (200 ft) into

735-515: The 4th Druk Desi Tenzin Rabgye (1638–96), the first, and only successor of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyel ( Zhabs-drung Ngag-dbang rNam-rgyal ), "a distant cousin from a collateral line descending from the 15th century ‘crazy saint’ Drukpa Kunley". During his visit to the sacred cave of Taktsang Pel Phuk during the Tshechu season of 1692 he laid the foundation for building the temple dedicated to Guru Rinpoche called

784-559: The Dzongkhag road also passes through the geog. One BHU, and four ORC render basic health services in the gewog. Other development facilities in the gewog consist of RNR center and one forest beat office. Road access to the geog facilitates the marketing of farm produces at Doksum, Chorten Cora and Tashigang. There is not much possibility for increasing the cereals cultivation but the potential to grow citrus and other sub- tropical fruits and vegetables for cash income generation exists. About 80% of

833-762: The Gewog confronts to all 4 seasonal change; the Northern part can be extremely cold during winter and have favorable climate during summer seasons. The Southern part can have a hot a humid climate during summer as in Manla; with temperature as high as 30 degrees Celsius with winter temperature ranging from 15 to 20 degrees Celsius. The middle Khamdang experiences warmer summer and cooler winter. This variation in climatic conditions led people to cultivate in Southern part during winter; and Northern part during summer. The main cash crops cultivated by

882-715: The Gewog is electrified. The civic administration of Khamdang Gewog is the responsibility of the Khamdang Gup ; who is directly accountable to the Dzongkhag Administration in Trashiyangtse . All the developmental plans comes from people to the Gup and then is forwarded to Dzongkhag Administration. Although Mahayana Buddhism is the state religion, almost all the people residing in the gewog are following Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism . Of various festivals performed in

931-685: The Guru with Eight Names", refers to Padmasambhava's Eight Manifestations and is an elegant structure built around the cave in 1692 by Gyalse Tenzin Rabgye . It has become the cultural icon of Bhutan. A popular festival, known as the Tsechu , held in honor of Padmasambhava, is celebrated in the Paro valley sometime during March or April. According to the Namthar of the Lhakhang, it is believed that Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche ) flew to this location from Singye Dzong on

980-634: The Tibetan yogini Machig Labdrön (1055–1145) and Thangton Gyelpo (1385–1464). In the latter part of the 12th century, the Lapa School was established in Paro. Between 12th and 17th centuries, many Lamas who came from Tibet established their monasteries in Bhutan. The first sanctuary to be built in the area dates to the 14th century when Sonam Gyeltshen , a Nyingmapa lama of the Kathogpa branch came from Tibet. The paintings he brought can still be faintly discerned on

1029-594: The Yalang Suspension Bridge is a small temple built into an overhanging rock, called Gongza Ney . It holds a petrified treasure chest, shoe of Guru Rinpoche, devils egg and other relics. A 78-year-old man, Dawa, from Khamdang, has devoted his life to take care of the Gongza Ney. The lhakhang was constructed in 1993. Barefoot, Tshampa Dawa, a lay monk, continues to guide the visitors along the Drangmechhu, imparting

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1078-537: The air without touching the earth. As noted before, the monastery was built around the Taktsang Senge Samdup ( stag tshang seng ge bsam grub ) cave, where custom holds that the Indian Guru Padmasambhava meditated in the 8th century. He flew to this place from Tibet on the back of Yeshe Tsogyal, whom he transformed into a flying tigress for the purpose and landed at the cliff, which he "anointed" as

1127-421: The approach path to the monastery, there is a Lakhang (village level monastery) and a temple of Urgyan Tsemo ("U-rgyan rTse-mo") which, like the main monastery, is located on a rocky plateau with a precipitous projection of several hundred feet over the valley. From this location, the monastery's buildings are on the opposite ravine, which is known by the name “Copper-Colored Mountain Paradise of Padmasambhava”. This

1176-611: The back of a tigress. This place was consecrated to tame the Tiger demon. An alternative legend holds that a former wife of an emperor willingly became a disciple of Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambahva) in Tibet. She transformed herself into a tigress and carried the Guru on her back from Tibet to the present location of the Taktsang in Bhutan. In one of the caves here, the Guru then performed meditation and emerged in eight incarnated forms (manifestations) and

1225-586: The cave to meditate and gave his name of Pelphug to the cave, "Pelkyi's cave". After he died later in Nepal , his body was said to have been miraculously returned to the monastery by the grace of the deity Dorje Legpa; it is now said to be sealed in a chorten in a room to the left at the top of the entrance stairway. The chorten was restored in 1982-83 and again in 2004. From the 11th century, many Tibetan saints and eminent figures came to Taktsang to meditate, including Milarepa (1040–1123), Pha Dampa Sangye (died 1117),

1274-582: 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. A later monastery complex was built in 1692 by 4th Druk Desi Tenzin Rabgey around the Taktsang Senge Samdup cave, where Guru Padmasambhava meditated and practiced with students including Yeshe Tsogyal before departing the kingdom of Tibet in

1323-720: The demon namely Phurba Trashi. It was Toerten Guru Choewang (1212-1270), sungtrul of Jampelyang Gyalpo Thrisong Deutsen who liberated the site to people. Toerten Guru Choewang travelled from Kurtoe Nyalamdung to Trashiyangtse where Omba Ney was hidden. On arriving at the site he pointed out that Aa is in Mon Kha Sheri Dzong And Om is there also. Later Terton Pema Lingpa travelled from Bumthang to Tawang via Om Ba Ney to give teachings and spent several days at Om Ba Ney and further introduced many treasures and empoweried people with blessings and teachings. Terton Pema Lingpa’s granddaughter Ani Choeten Zangmo also spent some time at

1372-455: The early 9th century. Padmasambhava is credited with introducing Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan, which was then part of Tibet, and is the tutelary deity of the country. Today, Paro Taktsang is the best known of the thirteen taktsang or "tiger lair" caves in which he and his students meditated. The shrine dedicated to Padmasambhava, also known as Gu-ru mTshan-brgyad Lhakhang or "the Shrine of

1421-405: The eight caves, four are comparatively easy to access. The cave where Padmasmabhava first entered, riding the Tiger, is known as 'Tholu Phuk' and the original cave where he resided and did meditation is known as the 'Pel Phuk'. He directed the spiritually enlightened monks to build the monastery here. The monastery is so precariously perched that it is said: "it clings to the side of the mountain like

1470-426: The farmer are maize, chilies, potatoes, peanuts and other fruits like apple, walnut and pears. Rice cultivation is seen mainly at subsistence level. The still exists barter system within the farmer groups; exchanging rice and maize from lower altitude people to chilies from higher altitude people. The Gewog has four community primary schools and one Middle Secondary School, Tsenkharla Middle Secondary School. Almost all

1519-493: The four faces and eight corners, are five kinds of Buddhas suppressing the vicious demons (performing four pious deeds) and placed on thrones that are mounted over the stooping demons. The demons and Khadoms are depicted adorned and seated on four petalled and four faced thrones “adorned with necromantic attributes” enjoying a good time; the Khadoms are seen on the four-sided courtyard of the palace and also on all side walls. The scene

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1568-441: The gewog most notable is the annual event of Shakshing Tshechu. Khamdang Gewog has many Buddhist Religious Sites ( Nye ) with notable ones being Ombha Nye , Gungja Nye , Shakshing Goenpa , Darchen Goenpa and Nangkhar Goenpa For well to do people, it is common to host a religious offerings and feasts. It is often seen the every household in such times will go to the hosts place with locally brewed wine and rice. Three hours from

1617-415: The households have easy access to the schooling facilities. However, few households at Shakshing and Manla villages are within walking distance of one hour in one way due to typical nature of the location of the land. Students coming from these villages attend school as boarders at Tsenkharla Middle Secondary School. It is the only gewog in the Dzongkhag connected by 9.1 km metalled feeder road. Further,

1666-490: The lower areas and terraced fields developed in the 1970s. The ruins with Khamdang villages depicts and reveals the fact about early inhabitants there. Near Shali in a small village called Denglum there is remains of ruins of Denglum Tshering Samdrup ; a well known man during eighth century AD. The ruins of Khamdang Lekey Samdrup in main village of Khamdang; and the ruins of Wombu Karma samdrup used to be early inhabitants of Khamdang village. The notable history also lies in

1715-566: The middle and main Khamdang has their origins rooted to nearby Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh . The Kurtoep speaking people, constituting North-West Khamdang probably have been migrated during feudal era from Mongar /Zhongar. There constitute also a group of people speaking local dialects called Zalakha who were originally migrated from the Tawang, a small town in Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh . While

1764-419: The monastery buildings are built into the rock face. Though it looks formidable, the monastery complex has access from several directions, such as the northwest path through the forest, from the south along the path used by devotees, and from the north (access over the rocky plateau, which is called the “Hundred Thousand Fairies” known as Bumda (hBum-brag). A mule track leading to it passes through pine forest that

1813-588: The ney. Shali, Bhutan Khamdang, Bhutan is a town in Trashigang District in eastern Bhutan . This Bhutan location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Paro Taktsang Paro Taktsang ( Dzongkha : སྤ་གྲོ་སྟག་ཚང་ , also known as the Taktsang Palphug Monastery and the Tiger's Nest ), is a sacred Vajrayana Himalayan Buddhist site located in

1862-460: The old ruined fortress of Lhasey Tshangma at Tsenkharla Right near the present day Tsenkharla Middle Secondary School, school . Historically until the arrival of great Tibetan Buddhist masters; people inhabiting the area were practicing Bon faith like many parts of Bhutan did. The population of the gewog counts to 4320 with a density of 82 per km. The constituent people residing in Khamdang has varied originality. The Sharchokp speaking people in

1911-668: The opposing sect of the Gelugpa order (which dominated Tibet under the Dalai Lamas), that an administrative mechanism was established in Bhutan. In due time, he established himself in Bhutan as a 'model of rulership' and was known as the "Shabdrung" with full authority. He wanted to establish an edifice at the Taktsang Pel Phuk site. It was during a Tibetan invasion of Bhutan in 1644-46 that Shabdrung and his Tibetan Nyingmapa teacher gTer-ston Rig-’dzin sNying-po had invoked Padmasambhava and

1960-453: The pinnacle in the painting denotes the domain of Brahma. The paintings also depict Klu (Naga) demigods with a human head and the body of a serpent, which are said to reside in lakes (said to denote that they are guarding the hidden treasures). Allegorically, they mean to represent the spiritual holy writings. The paintings also show what is termed as “Walkers in the Sky” (mKha-hgro-ma). The holy hill

2009-415: The place became holy. Subsequently, the place came to be known as the “Tiger's Nest”. The popular legend of the Taktsang monastery is further embellished with the story of Tenzin Rabgye , who built the temple here in 1692. It has been mentioned by authors that the 8th century guru Padmasmabhava had reincarnated again in the form of Tenzin Rabgye. The corroborative proofs mooted are: that Tenzin Rabgye

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2058-474: The place for building a monastery. He established Buddhism and the Nyingmapa school of Mahayana Buddhism in Bhutan, and has been considered the “protector saint of Bhutan”. Later, Padmasambhava visited Bumthang district to subdue a powerful deity offended by a local king. Padmasambhava's body imprint is stated to be imprinted on the wall of a cave near Kurje Lhakhang temple. In 853, Langchen Pelkyi Singye came to

2107-571: The place is said to be an old nun supported by a young trainee. Another important place near the shrine is the Urgyan Tsemo, the “Peak of Urgyan” which has a small Mani Lakhang. The prayer wheel, turned by an old monk, resounds with chimes that are heard every day at 4 am. Above the Urgyan is the holy cave temple known as 'Phaphug Lakhang' ( dPal-phug IHa-khang ), which is the main shrine of the Taktshang. It

2156-414: The protective deities at Taktsang to give them success over the invaders. He performed the bka’ brgyad dgongs ’dus rituals associated with the celebrations of Tshechu. Bhutan won the war against Tibet However, Shabdrung was not able to build a temple at Takstsang to celebrate the event, even though he very much wanted to do so. The wish of Shabdrung to build a temple here, however, was fulfilled during

2205-471: The sacredness of the site to the people. He has been doing this and taking care of the sacred site for more than three decades. After a three-hour walk from Naangkhar Gompa, incorporating a steep descent of 330m and more than 125 m of climbing, is a scared place commonly known as Omba Ney or the Taktshang of eastern Bhutan. The letter Om can be seen engraved on the rock face within the holy pilgrimage site. It

2254-612: The then King of Bhutan , Jigme Singye Wangchuck , oversaw the restoration of the damaged monastery and its contents in 2005. The monastery is located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the north of Paro and hangs on a precarious cliff at 3,120 metres (10,240 ft), about 900 metres (3,000 ft) above the Paro valley , on the right side of the Paro Chu (‘chu’ in Bhutanese means ”river or water”). The rock slopes are very steep (almost vertical) and

2303-533: The ‘Temple of the Guru with Eight Names’ (’gu ru mtshan brgyad lha-khang). It was a decision taken by Tenzin Rabgye while standing at the cave overlooking the Paro valley. At this time, he was leading the Tshechu festival of religious dances. At that time the only temples reported to be in existence, at higher elevations, were the Zangdo Pelri ( Zongs mdog dPalri ) and Ugyen Tsemo ( Urgyan rTse-mo ). On April 19, 1998,

2352-685: Was also instrumental in creating religious and secular dance forms from his conception of the 'Zandog Pelri' (the Copper Colored mountain), which was the abode of the Guru Padmasambahva (which is the same place as the Paro Taktsang or Tiger's nest). This dance is performed in Paro as the Tsche festival. But it was during the time of Ngawang Namgyal of the Drukpa subsect, who fled Tibet to escape persecution by

2401-403: Was seen (by his friends) concurrently inside and outside his cave; even a small quantity of food was adequate to feed all visitors; no one was injured during worship (in spite of the approach track to the monastery being dangerous and slippery); and the people of the Paro valley saw in the sky various animal forms and religious symbols including a shower of flowers that appeared and also vanished in

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