PUNAKHA, PASSES AND BRIDGES -BHUTAN JOURNEY

BLOG POST 7
We started from our hotel in Thimphu in the morning and left for Punakha , we had to cover a distance of 72 km and it would take around 3 hours to reach it
Punakha is one of the 20 districts of Bhutan and was previously the capital of Bhutan and seat of government until 1955, when the capital was moved to Thimphu
 Unlike Thimphu, Punakha is quite warm in winter and hot in summer. It is located at an elevation of 1,200 metres above sea level and rice is grown as the main crop along the river valleys of two main rivers of Bhutan, Pho Chu the male river and Mo Chu the female river. Dzongkha is widely spoken in this district.
As we reached the Drochula Pass, a mountain pass in the snow covered  Himalayas and a memorial ,situated at an elevation of 3100 meters, it started becoming very chilly and windy .

We got down from the car ,covered ourselves as it was truly very chilly ,the walk upto the top chortens was not very steep ,we could climb easily ,at the top we had a 360 degrees views across the far away mountains ,the chortens ,the temple across and the snaky path we had come from

 There were 108 Chortens  or stupas known as "Druk Wangyal Chortens" built by  Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk, the eldest Queen Mother  on a central hillock at the pass.

These were built as a memorial in honor of the Bhutanese soldiers who were killed in the December 2003 battle against Assamese insurgents from India

The Chortens were built in three layers, the first lowest level layer had forty five chortens, the second  thirty six and the top layer had twenty seven built around the main chorten.

They were beautifully decorated and the atmosphere was very serene though it was quite crowded and we saw many Indian tourists going around taking snaps

After spending some serene time at the chortens we slowly got down to see the temple which was built after completion of the chortens, known as the Druk Wangyel Lhakhng

 It had a beautiful backdrop of thick green forest and snow covered Himalayan mountains, was initiated and completed in June 2008. This was built as a memorial to celebrate 100 years of monarchy in Bhutan.
We were not allowed inside but paintings on themes of Bhutanese history decorate the walls of the temple. A few of the paintings relate to the fourth king fighting Indian rebels in the forest, monks with laptop, and a Druk Air plane.
 After a climb to the temple we got a panoramic view of the Himalayan range,  the open grounds and its front yard  a venue for the annual Dochula Druk Wangyel Festival.
There was a sign board showing the range of mountains visible from the Dochulla pass

and luckily when we were on the way to Punakha we could see the mountains quite clearly to the east of the pass. The snow clad mountain peaks of the Himalayas were seen prominently and among them was the Mt. Masanggang at 23,484 ft which is the highest peak in Bhutan, known in local language as the Mt Gangkar Puensum.

The view is especially scenic on clear, winter days with snow capped mountains forming a majestic backdrop to the tranquility of the 108 chortens gracing the mountain pass.
 The pass consisted of cypress trees and all around us the green hill slopes were festooned with colorful religious flags fixed by the Buddhist people as a mark of veneration. They represent the natural forces "blue (sky), white (clouds), red (fire), green (water) and yellow (earth)" and are inscribed with Buddhist scriptural prayers to usher prosperity and peace around the country.
There was a good canteen offering hot tea, coffee and snacks and clean washrooms. We had our tea sitting on the benches outside with chilly winds trying to naughtily snatch away the warmth of our hot coffee

There was a mud trail leading down to containing meditation caves which we didn’t go as we had a lot more places to see and a long way to travel

 After the Losar festival in February, marking the Bhutanese New Year and as the snow melts, the pass has many species of flowers such as the Primal Denticulata  and subsequently  rhododendrons and magnolia bloom abundantly.

 Another fragrant and famous plant, is the Daphne a small shrub which blooms with white flowers, the bark of this plant is used to make paper which is a traditional paper used for writing religious scriptures  and it is termite free.
We next went to the Botanical garden, it was looking like a not very well maintained park , there were water bodies with bridges to walk over.

A play area with a tree house and a warning put on the tree house not to walk up as it was old n worn out.
There were lot of trees and plants. The park had 29 varieties of the native rhododendrons. The most prominent red ones were seen in many places in the park.

 The Baritsho lake was good but the boats were not functional.

The green house up in the garden was beautiful. Could see many birds chirping and fluttering from one tree to another obviously having a big party

There was a audio visual room which had updates about the botanical garden. Refreshments like tea and coffee were available at the cafeteria
 We drove to Punakha suspension bridge, we had to walk for 15 minutes along a muddy path

 and saw the suspension bridge .It spanned a wide river, connecting to the two banks of the river. We could see the two parts of the river Mo chhu and Po chhu

 The walk across the bridge was wonderful, with wind trying to literally blow us off the bridge, specially when we were in the middle of the long span of the bridge. The mountains stood around us mocking at our attempts to cross the bridge

It is a unique 150 metres long fully suspended bridge built 100 meters above the  river  Po chhu ,  we had a splendid view of the valley and the easy flowing river on both sides of the bridge

We found that the local Bhutanese cross it every day as a mean of transportation.
Apparently the bridge looks more beautiful during autumn when paddy field in other end turns golden. When the rivers are full, tourists do river rafting professionals do it over the male river and the beginners and more timid ones over the female river The rafting start point was a few miles before the bridge

On the other side of the bridge was a little temple and the bridge was abundantly draped with prayer flags ,we could see the Punakha Dzong from the bridge

REST OF THIMPHU -BHUTAN JOURNEY

BLOG POST 6

We next went to the Buddha Dordenma, also known as the 'Vajra Throne' Buddha, situated amidst the ruins of Kuensel Phodrang, the palace of Sherab Wangchuck, the 13th Desi Druk.

We headed south of Thimphu city and we could see the Buddha serenely sitting and beckoning us to come to him, we drove through tall pine trees and the smells all around were heavenly

Buddha Dordenma was on a ridge overlooking the valley at an altitude of 2850 meters though there were steps, we found construction activity going on, so we took the easy way out

As we entered the premises we could see the gigantic Shakyamuni  Buddha  statue 169 ft tall made of bronze and gold plated and seated on a Lotus throne and was glistening in the sun

Apart from commemorating the centennial of the Bhutanese monarchy, the statue fulfils a prophecy. In the 20th century, the renowned yogi Sonam Zangpo prophesied that a large statue of either Padmasambhava , Buddha or of a phurba would be built in this region "to bestow blessings, peace and happiness on the whole world”

We walked around taking snaps, it was chilly and windy but there was enormous space around the statue and it was very peaceful and relaxing .I find that visit to such places or nature acts like a healing cool ointment on our hearts and minds bruised after a hectic life style in crowded and polluted cities

We went and looked down the stairs which were 288 in no, thanking our stars that we didn’t need to climb them, we saw a bird’s eye view of the town of Thimphu and there were stunning views of the snow capped mountains peeping occasionally and mischievously through the masking blue clouds .It is very rare to see such beautiful skies in smog filled surroundings and I felt like just sitting there silently in peace and contentment

The large statue was surrounded by 108 smaller statues of Dakinis that looked like Apsaras , we could find life like Airavat , the Garuda 3D representations and  many gold gilded Boddisattva figurines.

This was an active temple and like all monasteries in Bhutan, full sleeves were necessary inside the temple. Photography is not allowed .We dutifully left our shoes outside and entered the prayer hall ,only one floor was open to tourists and to our surprise we found thousands of small  gold Buddhas on shelves that lined the walls.

There was stunning artwork on the ceilings and walls, we also saw few altars, one had several massive clear quartz crystals. The temple pillars were carved beautifully and covered with gold colored tiles. Buddha was also shown with 4 heads in princely form.

We were told that the large statue in due course would house smaller Buddha statues, 100,000 ones 8-inch-tall and 25,000 12-inch-tall  gilded Buddhas respectively each of which, like the Buddha Dordenma itself, will be made of bronze and gilded in gold. Anyone could donate for the small statues

The main statue was built at a cost of US $47 million, by Aerosun Corporation of Nanjing, China .We found few monks telling prophesies to some tourists ,I was tempted but prevented by my husband who said  sternly that we were  already late and had other places to see ,so hearts fully satiated with peace and joy we left  the place

We then visited the Changangkha Lhakhang temple which is very popular among local Bhutanese as it was an important temple for the Children born in Thimphu, the protective deity of children resides in this temple.

 It was situated on a ridge above Thimphu, south east of Motithang. It has well laid out steps but was quite steep and we had to sit midway to gain our breath and pretend that we were admiring the views . 

The temple was established around 12th century, by Lama Phajo Drukgom Shigpo. Parents come with their new born children to seek blessings from the protector deity in the inner sanctum and only Bhutanese men are allowed to go in.

 we could see lot of prayer wheels with red and gold scripts around ,very huge Tibetan books are stored here

 Inside the temple premises I found a monk making tea for himself all alone ,patiently adding ginger ,aha ! Adrak chai ! I thought looking at the tea longingly 

The main deity was Tara/ Chenrizig/Avalokiteswara and we found devotees offering even meat and whiskey 
After coming out of the temple I found a group of old people sitting outside sunning themselves and promptly took a snap with them .I found older Bhutanese sitting and chatting comfortably in many places ,they looked well looked after and content

We then saw Motithang Takin Preserve a wildlife reserve area for Takin, the  National animal of Bhutan. Originally a mini-zoo, it was converted into a preserve.

The Takin is the national animal of Bhutan,it is also called cattle chamois or gnu goat, a goat-antelope found in the eastern Himalayas. The animals look like a hybrid of goat and cow.They are bulky and large and yet can move very fast on the high ridges.

 Beautiful natural plants & trees were there but there was quite a bit of walking to view the animals in the preserve, some of it quite steep and the animals were not always nearby which I found disappointing 

Archery is the national sport of Bhutan, played not only with traditional bows and arrows but also with modern archery techniques at Changlimithang  Sports and Archery Stadium in Thimphu.

 Archery is important for the cultural identity of the nation and as a result all tournaments are started with a ceremony. Women come to witness the sports in their colorful best attire and cheer their favorite teams. Men stand close to the target and taunt the players, if targets are missed.

We then went to The Folk Heritage Museum .It is dedicated to connect people to the Bhutanese rural past through exhibits, demonstrations, educational programs and documentation of rural life.

We first were taken to the souvenir shop which had a lot of  items displayed .

 Principal exhibit in the museum was a restored three storey traditional rammed mud and timber house, which dated back to the mid 19th century.

The whole design and form of house was that of an average household in the Wang area during that era.

From ground to top floor, household objects, typical domestic tools and equipment that would have been used by a family during that period were put on display. There were notes stuck to the walls or hung in every floor and every room describing the purpose of the floor and the room ,it was very surprising to see how well each item and space was fully utilised to its maximum capacity

We found Bhutanese women roasting red rice called Zaw on wooden stoves which was very similar to our puffed rice

we found some Bhutanese women weaving carpets and shawls with their kids hovering around them

When we came out we found a horse stable, a store to keep the crops and an interesting water mill .There was a water operated prayer wheel model and an oil extracting apparatus, both non-operational and not very well maintained.

Folk Heritage Museum had a restaurant with very interesting interior decoration, traditional tables and benches, wooden floor, ceiling to floor glass windows, the  garden outside had apple and walnut trees giving a natural surrounding good ambience for eating .

There was Malaysian buffet for lunch consisting of red rice, pork, beef renang, chicken curry, potatoes, spicy salad, bitter guard chilli. 

As it was the end of the day , we were very tired and readily retired to our hotel as we had to leave for Punakha the next day morning