Taktshang Goemba(Tigers Nest Monastery), Bhutan, in a mountain cliff

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Taktshang Goemba

Top choice


The 'Tiger's Nest Monastery' is one of the Himalaya's most incredible sights, miraculously perched on the side of a sheer cliff 900m above the floor of the Paro valley. Visiting is the goal of most visitors to Bhutan and while getting there involves a bit of uphill legwork, it's well worth the effort. The monastery is a sacred site, so act with respect, removing your shoes and hat before entering any chapels.

Bags, phones and cameras have to be deposited at the entrance, where your guide will register with the army.

As you enter the complex you pass underneath images of the Rigsum Goempo (Jampelyang, Chenresig and Chana Dorje). Turn to the right and look for the relic stone; Bhutanese stand on the starting line, close their eyes and try to put their thumb into a small hole in the rock as a form of karmic test.

Most groups then visit the Drubkhang (Pelphu Lhakhang), the cave where Guru Rinpoche meditated for three months. Outside the cave is a statue of Dorje Drolo, the manifestation the Guru assumed to fly to Taktshang on a tigress. The inner cave is sealed off behind a spectacularly gilded door and is said to hold the phurba (ritual dagger) of the Guru. Murals of the Guru Tsengye, or eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche, decorate the walls. Behind you, sitting above the inside of the main entrance, is a mural of Thangtong Gyalpo holding his iron chains.

From here ascend to the Guru Sungjonma Lhakhang, which has a central image of Pema Jungme, another of the eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche. This statue incorporates the ashes of a famous 'talking' image that was lost in the 1998 fire. Various demonic animal-headed deities and manifestations of the deity Phurba decorate the walls alongside the 25 disciples of Guru Rinpoche, while outside is an image of the long-life protector Tseringma riding a snow lion.

Passing a small prayer hall, the Langchen Pelgye Sengye Lhakhang on the left has connections to Dorje Phagmo, with a rock image of the goddess's crown hidden in a hole in the floor. The inner chorten belongs to Langchen Pelgye Sengye, a 9th-century disciple of Guru Rinpoche, who meditated in the cave. Behind the chorten is a holy spring.

Further on inside the complex to the left is the Dorje Drolo Lhakhang, where the monks sometimes sell blessed lockets, while to the right is the Guru Tsengye Lhakhang, which features an image of the monastery's 17th-century founder, Gyalse Tenzin Rabgye. Look down through the glass into the bowels of a sacred cave.

Further up is a butter-lamp chapel (light one for a donation). You can climb down into the original Tiger's Nest cave just above the chapel, but take care as it's a dusty path down a hairy series of wooden ladders to descend into a giant slice of the cliff face.

After visiting the Tiger's Nest and reascending to the previous viewpoint, it is possible to take a signed side trail uphill for 15 minutes to the charming Machig-phu Lhakhang, where Bhutanese pilgrims come to pray for children. Head to the cave behind the chapel and select the image of the Tibetan saint Machig Labdron on the right (for a baby girl), or the penis print on the cave wall to the left (for a boy). The main statues inside the chapel are of Machig and her husband Padampa Sangye.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Shama Lhakhang

0.05 MILES

If you take the alternative hiking trail when leaving Taktshang Goemba, you will descend steeply from the back of the Ugyen Tshemo Lhakhang for 15 minutes…

2. Taktshang Viewpoint

0.09 MILES

Just before Taktshang Goemba, this spectacular stupa viewpoint at 3140m puts you eyeball to eyeball with the monastery, which looks like it is growing out…

3. Ugyen Tshemo Lhakhang

0.11 MILES

This quiet temple above Taktshang Goemba has an unusual set of four exterior protectors and an interior 3D mandala that you can climb via a series of…

4. Machig-phu Lhakhang

0.12 MILES

After visiting the Tiger's Nest it is possible to take a signed side trail uphill for 15 minutes to this charming lhakhang, where Bhutanese pilgrims come…

5. Zangto Pelri Lhakhang

0.15 MILES

A 15-minute hike above Taktshang Goemba brings you the Zangto Pelri Lhakhang, named after Guru Rinpoche's heavenly paradise and perched on a crag with…

6. Yoselgang

0.25 MILES

This small temple sits high above Taktshang Goemba and can be visited if you are hiking in the area above that temple. You can also visit Yoselgang on the…

7. Ramthangka Lhakhang

0.86 MILES

Just below the trailhead parking for Taktshang Goemba is a white chorten and this small but charming temple that remains almost completely unvisited.

8. Satsam Chorten

1.98 MILES

The small and inconspicuous Satsam Chorten by the Zhiwa Ling hotel once marked no man's land between two rival penlops (governors; satsam means 'border')…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "bhutan/taktshang/attractions/taktshang-goemba/a/poi-sig/1366225/1335507",
      "position": "superzone"
    }