The century old Dangring chorten at Hejo in Thimphu has stood the test of time. But it no longer exudes splendor and glory it used to, many years ago. The chorten has even lost its history to time. No one knows when, who and how the chorten was built.
Negligence and time has taken a toll on this heritage. And now, the chorten has become just a pile of stone and is on the verge of collapse.
Some local residents who circumambulate the chorten are not bothered by the deteriorating condition of the chorten. If at all they are bothered, it is the stone slabs and stone that keep falling off the chorten now and then. “It may hit us,” they say.
Four years ago, the chorten was renovated by the Dzongkhag. But the structure of the chorten started to fall apart soon thereafter. A few people who are worried about the heritage said they have raised concern about it a several times and are willing to contribute cash for the renovation.
According to the village tshogpa, Chopel, they were not able to begin renovation work because of the long duration involved to get approval from the government.
The Kawang Thromde Thuemi said renovation work has been further delayed because of budget constraints. “We recently got an approval to start renovating the chorten but the budget of Nu.200,000 we received wasn’t enough,” said Ugyen Penjor of Kawang Thromde Thuemi. He said the budget was from the Constituency Development Grant of their Member of Parliament.
The cost of renovation is estimated to be over Nu.400,000.