Jangsa Dumtseg Lhakhang
Dumtseg Lhakhang is a Buddhist temple in western Bhutan (Paro). The temple is notable as it is in the form of a stupa (chorten), very rare in Bhutan. It is located on the edge of a hill between the Paro valley and the Dopshari valley, across the bridge from Paro.
The stupa-temple was built in 1421(other sources say 1433) by an eminent Tibetan Lama named Thangtong Gyalpo (1385-1464), also known as Chagzampa, who is remembered for his building of some eight iron bridges in Bhutan. His reason for building a temple in chorten form is because it is said to immobilze demons and proclaims the victory of Buddhism. According to a local legend, the Lhakhang was built to subdue a “serpentine force” that was located at the foundation of the chorten. According to a Bhutanese source it was built “on the nose of a hill that looks like a frog in order to counteract Sadag (earth-owning spirit) and lunyen (powerful naga spirit).
In 1841, the 25th Je Khenpo, Sherab Gyeltsen restored the temple with the aid of local villagers, thanking the donors by craving their names on tree trunks which form the columns of the ground floor. The Lhakhang is conceived as a mandala, with different storeys (three floors) corresponding to the different levels of initiation. The three floors are said to represent hell, earth and heaven. It is in the shape of a chorten with a white tower on top, very unusual in Bhutan. The monastery contains many steep ladders to reach the different levels. The Lhakhang contains a massive collection of Buddhist paintings and iconography, said to rival those of any Tibetan Buddhist monastery.
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