Asia

[Visited: April 2024]

After climbing to the Tiger Nest monastery and visiting another monastery on the way back, we arrive back in Paro. Unfortunately, no flights are arriving, so it doesn't make sense to go to the runway lookout point overlooking the airport. Our guides therefore decide to take us to Dumtseg Lhakhang, which turns out to be a very good decision. Across the Paro Chhu river, we walk through a gate and see the temple right ahead of us, perched against a rocky hill. We see a white spire above a circular tower, which sits on top of a rectangular building. Old people sit on a bench, some others circumambulate around the old temple. We follow suit, stopping regularly to have a closer look at the old, whitewashed walls, the colourful wooden decorative screens behind which we see the prayer wheels.
We realize that this will be the very last temple we will see in Bhutan: we will be leaving early the next morning. We walk the stone pavement, with irregularly shaped stones that have been smoothened by streams of worshippers for so many years. Dumtseg Lhakhang was constructed in the early 15th century by Thangtong Gyalpo to subdue a serpentine force according to one story, another legend claims that he built it on the head of a demoness. It was constructed near Palnang Lhakhang, one of the 108 temples built in a day by Tibetan emperor Songtsen Gampo. At the western side of Dumtseg Lhakhang, we stop for a while. The afternoon sun shines a soft light on the age-old building, and we watch worshippers pass by as they turn the prayer wheels. After while, we follow them, and when we reach the entrance, remove our shoes and step inside.
It is dark, and we can only really see the interior near the windows. A monk is sitting in a corner, and our guide talks to him for a while. Dumtseg Lhakhang consists of three floors, symbolizing hell, earth, and heaven. After walking around hell, with statues of Buddha, we climb a steep wooden ladder that brings us to earth. Here, we see hundreds of deities depicted in paintings. This truly is a treasure of Buddhist art. We climb another, even steeper ladder to the top level of Dumtseg Lhakhang, representing heaven. We see Tantric deities on the walls. We step outside through a small door for some fresh air. When we make our way back to the inside of this great temple, we relish the sight of the many paintings. At the lower level, we find one of our guides still in prayer at one of the shrines. Once outside, we stay a little longer, looking at this elegant temple that seems to become more beautiful by the minute. Goodbye Dumtseg Lhakhang, and all the other Bhutanese temples we have seen.

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Dumtseg Lhakhang > Bhutan > Asia

[Visited: April 2024]

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