Tamshing Phala Chhoepa

When it happens

Tamshing Phala Chhoepa falls in the eighth month of the Bhutanese lunar calendar. It is the temple’s own annual tshechu (a festival of sacred masked dances).

The full observance is often described as running about five days, from the first day, called chamju, to a closing purification on the fifth. Rehearsals usually begin about twenty days earlier, in the seventh lunar month.

Where it happens

Tamshing Lhakhang (temple) stands in the Choekhor valley of Bumthang. It is a Nyingma temple and monastery.

It is one of the oldest Nyingma temples in Bhutan and a principal seat of the tradition of Pema Lingpa. The neighbouring Kenchosum Lhakhang shares the same monastic structure, and some festival activities also take place there.

History

Pema Lingpa (1450–1521), a terton (treasure-revealer), founded the temple. Its foundation was laid in 1501, and it was completed around 1504–1505. He is counted among the Five Terton Kings of Vajrayana Buddhism, and he spent his final days and died at Tamshing.

Pema Lingpa introduced the festival to commemorate the temple’s consecration. Its name comes from phag (pig), after the pig dance that recalls his vision in which a pig revealed the spot and the layout for the temple.

Tamshing is a seat of the Peling lineage of Pema Lingpa, his son Dawa Gyaltshen and his grandson Pema Tinley.

Dances and rituals

The first day opens with a cleansing ceremony at the water mill associated with Pema Lingpa. The participants then stay inside the temple for continuous morning and evening rituals.

The pig dance, Peling Phag Cham, is said to have been choreographed by Pema Lingpa. It re-enacts choosing the spot, digging the foundation and drawing out the temple’s layout.

The Peling Ging Sum, a trilogy of dances, is also performed:

• Juging, a stick dance in animal-headed masks, about locating evil
• Driging, a sword dance in red wrathful masks, about subjugating evil
• Ngaging, a drum dance in green wrathful masks, celebrating victory over evil

Pilgrims earn merit by walking around the inner sanctum carrying Pema Lingpa’s iron chain mail, which weighs about 25 kilograms. The masks are kept inside the temple between festivals.

Being there

Tamshing Lhakhang is a short drive from Chamkhar (Jakar) town, which lies just to the south.