When it happens
Ura Yakchoe begins on the twelfth day of the third Bhutanese lunar month. That month falls in late spring, and the festival’s dates shift each year with the lunar calendar.
The festival is described as running four to five days.
Where it happens
The festival centres on Ura, a village in eastern Bumthang, and its lhakhang (temple) rather than on a dzong (fortress).
Ura Lhakhang is a two-storey village temple, rebuilt in 1986. It houses a large bronze statue of Guru Rinpoche.
Cereal fields surround Ura and earn it the name “Golden Bowl Valley”. It is one of the largest clustered villages in central Bhutan.
History
According to oral tradition, Ura Yakchoe is many centuries old and one of the most sacred festivals in Bumthang.
The festival commemorates Guru Rinpoche’s arrival and the warding off of epidemics.
According to tradition, a mysterious lama once visited an old woman and asked only for water. When she returned he had vanished, leaving behind a sack that held a sacred relic. The story holds that this is the relic still displayed at the festival.
The relic the festival honours is a silver statue of the Buddha Vajrapani (Chana Dorji), believed to protect against disease.
Dances and rituals
Cham (sacred masked dances) and folk performances honour Guru Rinpoche. The mask dances include the Throchu, Mangchen and Tenkor. Clown figures lead folk songs, and village homes host communal breakfasts.
The devotional highlight is the public unveiling of the Vajrapani relic for blessings.
Being there
Ura lies about 48 km east of Jakar town, roughly an hour and a half by road. The high road crosses eastern Bumthang, and at about 3,100 m Ura is among the highest valleys in the country you can reach by vehicle.
Ura Yakchoe is an intimate, largely local gathering. Rural-urban migration has thinned participation, and only about half of Ura’s residents still live in the village. Spectators are increasingly the elderly, women and children.