Bhutan-Places of Interest
Punakha
Punakha served as the capital of Bhutan until 1955 and still it is the winter seat of the Je Khenpo (Chief Abbot). Blessed with a temperate climate and fed by the Pho Chu (male) and Mo Chu (female) rivers, Punakha is the most fertile valley in the country. There are splendid views from Dochu-la pass (3,088m/10,130ft) on the Thimphu - Punakha road.
What to see in Punakha Punakha Dzong :
Placed strategically at the junction of the Pho Chu and Mo Chu rivers, the dzong was built in 1637 by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal to serve as the religious and administrative center of the region. Damaged over the centuries by four catastrophic fires and an earthquake, the dzong has been fully restored in recent years by the present monarch. The dzong is open for visitors during the Punakha festival (early spring) and in the summer months, after the monk body has returned to Thimphu .
Chime Lhakhang: Located 45 minutes hike from the Lobesa village is this Monastery . Famous Trantric Monk Drukpa Kuenley visited Bhutan in the 15 th century , He was better known as, the “divine madman”. His outrageous nature of teachings often involved strong sexual connotations and used his phallus as the most important symbolic tool for all his teachings, and to destroy demons and evil spirits. Under the guise of thoughtless womanizing, one of the Lam's greatest gift to countless beneficiaries was children.
Every year hundreds of people from all corners of the Bhutan make pilgrimages to Chhime Lhakhang, an ancient monastery near Punakha, dedicated to fertility and founded by Lam Drukpa Kuenley, to pray for children. They get blessed by a symbolic phallus which represents the sign of fertility and other relegious objects of the Lam. It will take only few stories of the Lam to understand why everyone in this magical kingdom believes that the Lam's blessings will help a woman concieve.