Lhodrak Kharchu Dratshang was built by Lama Namkhai Nyingpo and is located on a forested slope overlooking the Chamkhar town. The original monastery is in Lhodrak in Tibet, close to the border in Lhuntse. It houses monks and above the temple are retreat centers for meditation. It has wonderful paintings of Guru Rimpoche’s life and other statues.
Tamshing Lhakhang was founded by one of the foremost of those Treasure Revelers, Tertoen Pema Lingpa, the year 1501AD. Later, the temple became the seat of the successive Sungtruls or Speech Reincarnations of Tertoen Pema Lingpa. The armory in the temple, also cast by Tertoen Pema Lingpa, is a testimony of the saint’s renowned skill as a black-smith. Inside this temple, once also comes across the beautiful wall paintings by Pema Lingpa, and the throne that he built. The Tamshing Phola Choeda Festival takes place on the 10th day of the 8th Bhutanese month at this temple.
Kurjey Lhakhang is one of an important place of pilgrimage for most devout Bhutanese people. It was built around a rock on which Guru Rinpoche left an imprint of his body while mediating there in the 8th Century. The name Kurjey means Sacred Body Imprint. The rock around which the temple grew came to be known as Dragmar Dorji Tshegpa (The Red Cliff of the Diamond of the Long Life). A wall with 108 Chortens was built around the complex by Ashi Kesang Wangmo Wangchuck in 1984. There are three temples in a row.
Jambay Lhakhang is one of the oldest temples in Bhutan, built in 659 AD by Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo in one day to pin down the left knee of a giant ogress whose body lay across the Himalayas. The inner shrine of the temple houses an exquisite statue of Jowo Jampa, the Buddha of the Future, also known as Maitreya. The most popular festival in Bhutan, Jampa Lhakhang Drup is held here at this temple.
Lam Ngagi Wangchuk laid the foundation of a monastery on a ridge in the lower Chokhor valley in Bumthang and started its constructions.A white bird flew away from this site and settled where the Jakar Dzong stands today. Lama took this as a good omen and he left the old site and moved to the new sites on a hill overlooking the Chamkhar valley. Here he completed a small dzong to be used as a monastery which he called Jakar Dzong (the dzong of the White Bird)
Today, Jakar Dzong has been the seat of the Jakar Dzongdag and it is the headquarters of the Bumthang District. Bumthang – “Sacred Heart of the Kingdom of Bhutan”. The Jakar Dzong (Castle of the White Bird) was built in 1677.
