Pema Sambhava Lhakhang

Bhutan

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Along the dirt road north of Tamshing, a short steep climb above the valley floor leads to the small Pema Sambhava Lhakhang. The original lhakhang was built in 1490 by Pema Lingpa around the cave where Guru Rinpoche meditated and assumed his manifestation of Padmasambhava. The lhakhang was expanded by Jigme Namgyal, the father of the first king, and restored in the early 1970s.

There are several rock paintings here, as well as a representation of the local protector Terda Norbu Zangpo, who lurks in a corner behind the door beside a leather whip, and the cave itself is painted in rainbow colours. Ask to see the main relic, a conch shell that is said to have flown here from Do Zam. The footpath at the back of the lhakhang leads steeply uphill for 90 minutes to the white cliff of the Drak Choeling retreat centre.

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