PHALLUSES AND DZONGS –BHUTAN JOURNEY

BLOG POST 8
We next were on our way to the Punakha Dzong, and our driver stopped at a strategic spot to offer us the classic and spectacular view of the huge Dzong with the river flowing by its side. The Dzong was beautifully framed by colorful purple jacaranda flowers, which start blooming by April end, giving us a taste of the delight awaiting us.

We crossed the Mo Chhu River to enter the monastery premises through a beautiful covered wooden cantilever bridge built with the Dzong in the 17th century.

This bridge was washed away by a flash flood in 1957 and reconstructed in 2006
When I looked down the river, I could see a lot of big fish swimming merrily and placid dogs lying along the bridge.

In my entire tour of Bhutan, I never saw a single dog barking at anyone. I felt the peace of the country infused into their minds also, and I noted that the animals were very well looked after in Bhutan.

As we climbed the concrete steps, we could see three rows of steep steps, at this stage my poor knees started grumbling; they had cooperated very well with me till then, but I am sure they must have thought this woman had gone crazy and why she wouldn’t stay in one place and had to travel all over the world, especially a country like Bhutan where we have to walk, climb, and use our legs very often. Anyway, I appeased them, saying that after this fort and one more place, we were going to our resort for a restful night's stay.

 Punakha Dzong was built in 1637-38 by Ngawang Namgyal, 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, and was located at the confluence of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu rivers in the Punakha-Wangdue valley, as a result of which the dzong is vulnerable to flash flooding caused by glacier lakes, which occurred in 1957, 1960, and 1994, causing severe damage to the Dzong.

The Bhutan government is frantically trying to protect the dzong from future flood damage by deepening the river channels and raising the embankments. In 1987, the dzong was also partially destroyed by fire and was restored
Dzong in the Bhutanese language means "fort," but this beautiful structure is the most revered monastery by all the Bhutanese
In 1907, it was the site of the coronation of Ugyen Wangchuck as the first King of Bhutan, and it was here that the King of Bhutan, His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and his beautiful wife, the Queen of Bhutan Jetsun Pema, got married in October 2011.
As it also houses administrative offices and most of Bhutan’s national treasures are kept inside this Dzong,  the dress code and security system are at a high level.

The Dzong had lots of offices and a monastery inside; we could walk through the ground floor and along the first-floor walkway, though we could take photos only outside
As we entered the prayer zone, we saw paintings on the wall signifying the life cycle of Buddha, a very big statue of Lord Buddha, Guru Rinpoche and Zhabdrung, and traditional Bhutanese colourful decorations all around

The temple inside at the far end was also beautiful.

The whole atmosphere of the Dzong was electrifying and stimulating and the purple jacaranda  flowers were stunning.

We next went to one of the most revered temples of Bhutan, Chimi L’hakhang,  considered the temple of fertility, dedicated to Lama Drukpa Kuenley, popularly known as the Divine Madman. The temple lies on the edge of the Lobesa valley

 Lama Drukpa Kuenley is a legendary saint in Bhutan who is much revered in the country because of his unusual way of teaching; he is considered an eccentric and said to have the thunderbolt of wisdom
The monastery built by Ngawang Chogyel was exquisitely built using ancient Thai-themed architecture, with paintings and carvings of phalluses on all walls.
As it was situated on a small hill right in the centre of the valley, we had to walk for about half an hour across the field to the temple road.

Indeed, it was a very pleasant walk and on the way we crossed lush green rice fields and a tiny stream downhill before the short climb to Chimi Lhakhang; we could see beautiful scenery around and could get see rural Bhutan.

On the way, we saw many shops selling wooden phalluses. And many young monks were going around on their routine jobs

I asked our guide if I could take a snap with some of the young monks; he said he would try. He finally persuaded three of them to pose for a photo. As one of them was looking very irritated, I told them we were sorry that we disturbed them in their prayers, but to my surprise they all giggled and ran away into a room. It was then our guide told me they were watching their favourite channel on TV, and that is why they didn’t want to get disturbed  Lol !

The beautiful temple had a big Bodhi tree at the front with many local people resting there;,this tree was supposed to have been brought from Bodh Gaya in India and there was a large prayer wheel.

This temple symbolised the mad saint, or “divine madman" for his unorthodox ways of teaching Buddhism by singing, humour, and outrageous behaviour, which amounted to being bizarre, shocking and with sexual overtones.
He is also the saint who advocated the use of phallus symbols as paintings on walls and as flying carved wooden phalluses on roof tops at four corners of the eaves.

The monastery is the repository of the original wooden symbol of phallus that Kunley brought from Tibet. This wooden phallus is decorated with a silver handle and is used to bless people who visit the monastery on pilgrimage, particularly women seeking blessings to beget children.
The tradition at the monastery is to strike pilgrims on the head with a 10-inch  wooden phallus (erect penis).Traditionally symbols of an erect penis in Bhutan have been intended to drive away the evil eye and malicious gossip.
 The temple priest proudly showed us an album of all the people who became proud parents after their visit to the temple. Apparently these parents returned with their newly born babies for naming ceremony at the temple. They do this by picking bamboo slips placed in the altar inscribed with names of boys and girls.
We saw many interesting souvenir souvenir and quite a few Tangka shops  selling Tibetan drawings, there were Tibetan masks and plenty of phallus figure in all sorts of forms

Standing regally on the hill above the Punakha valley, Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten is a classic example of beautiful traditions and architecture of Bhutan. The temple was built by Her Majesty the Queen Mother for warding off the negative forces and bringing peace and harmony for all the living beings. The thing that sets this Chorten apart is that it was built on the principles described in the Holy Scriptures rather than modern engineering manuals. The golden spire and intricate wall patterns are fine example of art and tradition of Bhutan.
We finally reached our resort ,the Drubchhu resort which was a family owned and managed resort. Overlooking paddy fields and farm houses, Drubchhu was developed on the ruins of an old granary built more than a hundred years ago. The property has a natural spring believed to be a Drubchhu  (healing /miraculous water)

 It was an attractive and relaxing location. The terrain where the resort was built was not a level ground. Therefore, there were a number of steps on the way to rooms and the foot paths in the garden. I was surprised to see lady porters taking our luggage to our room

Our room was were spacious and good as we were very tired, we just had dinner and had restful sleep  .
There were common areas and three seating areas in the reception region and a dining hall serving quite good food. There was spa facility but there was no time to use it and the rooms had WIFI with good strength

Our room had big French windows opening to outside , at times the clouds wafting all over the valley seemed to peep into our room

I enjoyed sitting in the swing in the garden and having a look at the clear sky and the valley view in the late evening.

The resort had plenty of flowering plants and native fruit trees and the resort had friendly accommodating and attentive professional staff.

When I got up in the morning and came out for my customary walk I was entranced to see first mist wafting all over the mountains and smoke arising from the houses,

 after a while  the sun started peeping behind the white snowy clouds ,there were rows of terraced rice fields ,there were school children walking to their schools.

Because of the absence of any industry or manufacturing facilities, the local people were very much into cultivation. Main produces being rice, vegetables and fruits.