The Queen Mother, Her Majesty Ashi Tshering Yangdon Wangchuck, has built a powerful stupa just up river from the Punakha Dzong.
A Stupa of Grace and Beauty
We left the car behind and crossed the river over this suspension bridge.
Prema hustled over the bridge so she could catch a picture of Dorje, Robin and Pelden crossing.
A local farmer followed with his horse.
The trail to the stupa meanders across fields, along a small singing stream.
And then the steep climb through the forest begins.
As we climbed, the fields displayed their rhythmic patterns.
And then suddenly, the stupa appears.....
There are four levels, each with it’s own spectacular shrine
Opposite the stupa, up the hill a bit is the Queen Mother’s personal retreat cabin.
This nun was intrigued by a western woman using a mala.
Tseringma is one of the most precious female deities of Bhutan.
She is the Goddess of Good Fortune, of blessings. This vase has a perpetual stream of water flowing.
Pilgrims receive the water from her vase as a sacred offering
Behind her the view dances out to the blue mountains.
Down the mountain we made a quick trip to Drupa Kinley’s Temple.
Several of the houses were adorned with this symbol of .... well ..... what do you think.....power and fertility!!!!
Drukpa Kinley is known as the Divine Madman for his unrestrained sexual practices and rebellion against the dogmatic religious institutions.
His temple is considered especially “fertile” and women who want to have a child go there for blessings.
It was getting dark as we raced through the village and across the fields to the temple. It was too dark to take pictures of the temple
So we snapped some of the children, the village had a lot of lovely young children, a testament to the effectiveness of Drukpa Kinley’s blessings.
