Bhutanese Lore

Every day on my trip, there has been another dzong (fortress), another monastery, another temple.  And at many of them, there are tales of various miracles and supernatural happenings.  Here are a few of my favorites:

1.  The Guru Rinpoche.  The # 1 tourist attraction in Bhutan is the Tiger’s Nest Monastery, built about 800 meters above the Paro Valley.  It commemorates the site where Guru Rinpoche supposedly flew on the back of a flying tiger to subdue a local demon in the 8th Century.  He then meditated in a cave there for 3 months and subsequently introduced Buddhism to Bhutan.  Unfortunately on the day of my hike, there were no flying tigers available.  The hike took me 1:45.  If you visit the Tiger’s Nest, you are said to be guaranteed to see the Guru in the afterlife, where he will help relieve you from suffering.  In another room at the Tiger’s Nest is the statue of a “talking” Buddha that supposedly spoke on a few occasions a few centuries ago.  And, by visiting the statue, your wishes will be granted.

The Tiger's Nest.  No pictures allowed inside.

The Tiger’s Nest was destroyed by fire about 20 years ago (as many historic buildings in Bhutan were at one time or another), so what you see is a new structure.  But, supposedly, the building was re-built with the help and supervision of a young boy who proved himself to be the reincarnation of the original architect.  Yes, that happened in the 21st Century.

And now, looking up at the Tiger's Nest from the start of the hike.

2.  The Divine Madman.  Near Punakha, there’s a temple and monastery dedicated to the Divine Madman, who in the 16^th Century, shot an arrow into the sky in Tibet and supposedly followed it to its landing place in a house in Bhutan, where he became a travelling mystic.  Most famously, he subdued a demon with the power of his fiery thunderbolt (I’m giving you the G-rated version).  Many homes in the region have phalluses painted on the outside in his honor.  The Divine Madman challenged the conventions of the time & also appreciated a good drink.  At his temple, I was blessed by the monk and noticed that, at the altar, someone had left a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red as an offering.

3.  The Shabdrung.  This story is real, but it’s still a good one.  The Shabdrung was the founder of the modern Bhutanese state in the 17^th century.  While in his 50s, he went into “retreat” inside a room in the Punakha Dzong.  Every day, in case someone was watching, an attendant brought the Shabdrung his 3 meals.  In fact, though, the Shabdrung was dead.  The leadership feared there would be chaos if people knew he had passed away, so they kept this story up for 54 years and issued edicts in his name.  It was the ultimate Weekend at Bernie’s.  Finally, when the Shabdrung would have been 111 years old, they either figured the gig was up or that the country could survive without him.  Today, the room in which he died (and where his embalmed remains are in a coffin) can only be visited by 3 people: the king, the chief abbot, and the room’s attendant.

The building inside the Punakha Dzong where people were led to believe the Shabdrung "lived" until he was 111.  The entire building is off-limits.

My terrific guide through the country would tell me all of these stories and many more.  He is a devout Buddhist and gave every impression of believing that these things all actually happened, but he never asked me what I thought about all of this.  Finally, at the National Museum in Paro near the end of the trip, he showed me one of the exhibits: an egg that was supposedly laid by a horse several centuries ago.  For the first and only time during our travels, he asked me if I believed that had happened.  I smiled & replied, “A horse laid an egg?  That I cannot believe.”