The 11th century Dhondrup Choeling Lhakhang at Dhur Chiwog in Bumthang wears a new look with its renovation finally over. The monastery, which is an important place of worship for the people of Dhur, was consecrated on Friday.
The Dorji Lopen of the Central Monastic Body presided over the consecration ceremony.Renovation works began in 2016. Almost all the structures of the Lhakhang have been restored.
The Lhakhang is believed to have been renovated once before following a fire incident almost a century ago.
“Our forefathers were not as prosperous as we are today. The Lhakhang didn’t have a good structure. It really needed a restoration. So, we proposed for approval and budget from the government,” Pema Tshering from Dhur said.
“We received Nu 2 M from the government to carry out the restoration works. The manual works were carried out by the community.”
“In addition to the budget we got from the government, we sought donations. This was how we were able to gather enough funds for the renovation,” Dhur Tshogpa Sonam Phuntsho said.
“In the past, the Lhakhang was quite small and not spacious. So, this time we did a little bit of expansion while keeping the old architecture intact.”
The Lhakhang was first built by Ngoten Choeku Dorji popularly known as Lam Ngogpa. He was a disciple of the great Tibetan Buddhist teacher, Marpa, at Lho Drowalung in Tibet.
“The lama came from north Jongthung. On his way, he spent a night atop Naktsila, a mountain facing present day Dhur village. In the morning when he woke up, he thought where he should go and build a monastery for himself. He then saw a lake with geese flying above the ridge where the Lhakhang sits today. This is how he came and settled here,” Pema Tshering shared.
The lama then named the place as Ngur. However, the place is presently known by the name Dhur. Pema Tshering shares how the name Dhur came about.
“The place was actually named Ngur after the geese (Ngab-bja) flying over the lake. However, several centuries ago, when the place was documented in text, the first letter Nga was mistakenly written as Da. Over the years, people started calling the place Dhur after that spelling mistake.”
Today, people giggle over stories about how their village got its name.
Meanwhile, they are proud with the new Lhakhang standing tall in the middle of the village and its great legacy preserved to this day.
