A Thongdrel of Gyalwa Shakya Rinchen, the 9th Je Khenpo of Bhutan was consecrated and unfurled for public veneration at Changangkha Lhakhang on May 4.
The new thongdrel will be taken to the Phajodhing monastery on the fifth day of the fourth month of the Bhutanese calendar. Phajodhing is one of the main abodes of Gyalwa Shakya Rinchen.
The thongdrel, 33-feet in height and 22-feet in width, is a first of its kind in the country.
The project to construct the thongdrel was coordinated by a group called the Yanglop Choki Lotay Tshogpa.
“We have Thongdrel of Buddha and Guru Rinpoche in most of the temples and lhakhangs but we do not have a thongdrel of Gyalwa Shakya anywhere. Therefore, the former Yanglop Choki Lotay initiated the project,” Kuenzang Thinley, the Principal of Tango Dordhen Tashithang Buddhist Studies, said.
“The thongdrel will be kept at Khangzang Lhakhang, which is Gyalwa Shakya’s main Lhakhang in Phajodhing.”
The thongdrel was constructed at a cost of about Nu 1.5 M. It took nine months to complete the project.
