Domkhar Tshechu
Festival

The Festival & Its Origins

Lama Kuenkhen Longchen Rabjam — The Scholar Who Founded Domkhar

The Domkhar Tshechu was initiated by one of the most important Buddhist scholars of medieval Tibet: Lama Kuenkhen Longchen Rabjam, also known as Longchenpa (1308–1364). Born in Dranang in central Tibet, Longchenpa was a prolific philosopher and master of the Nyingma tradition who systematised the Dzogchen (Great Perfection) teachings into a coherent body of literature. He spent periods of his life in Bhutan, spending time in the Bumthang valleys and establishing monasteries. Domkhar Lhundrup Choling is one of the eight monasteries he founded in Bhutan. The Dzogchen teachings he brought to the Chumey Valley gave the monastery its particular spiritual character, which persists in the Tshechu’s emphasis on Peling Chams — dances rooted in the broader Nyingma tradition of Bumthang.

The Peling Chams — Dances of Terton Pema Lingpa

The centrepiece of the Domkhar Tshechu is the Peling Cham repertoire — mask dances composed by Terton Pema Lingpa (1450–1521), the great treasure discoverer from Bumthang and one of Bhutan’s five principal tertöns. Pema Lingpa was born in the Tang Valley, not far from Domkhar, and his spiritual influence saturates the Chumey Valley as much as any valley in Bumthang. The dances he composed for the Peling tradition have a distinct choreographic character: more fluid and narrative than the wrathful dances of the western festivals, rooted in the imagery of his terma (treasure texts) and his own visions of the sacred landscape.

The Black Hat Dance (Zhana Nga Cham), the Three Ging, and the Drametse Nga Cham — the drum dance of Drametse inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list — are also performed over the three days. Between the formal Cham dances, villagers of Domkhar perform folk dances in traditional dress, giving the festival a community character distinct from the more monastic festivals.

The Maitreya Thongdrel — The Future Buddha

On the final morning of the Domkhar Tshechu, a Thongdrel depicting Maitreya — the future Buddha, also called Jampa in Dzongkha — is unfurled for the assembled community to receive its blessing. The Thongdrel at most other major Bhutanese festivals depicts Guru Rinpoche. The Domkhar Thongdrel’s depiction of Maitreya is rare and theologically significant: Maitreya is the Buddha who will appear in the future when the current age’s accumulated merit has been exhausted, and his image is a reminder that the festival’s accumulated merit is an investment in that future. The Bhutanese tradition holds that even a single glimpse of a Thongdrel carries liberation from the cycle of rebirth.

Things to Do in Chumey and Bumthang

• Nimalung Monastery and Tshechu — also in the Chumey Valley, the Nimalung Tshechu is held a few weeks after the Domkhar Tshechu. Both can be attended in a single extended Chumey visit.
• Chumey Yathra weaving centre — the valley is famous for its distinctive woollen yathra textiles with geometric patterns. Several weaving workshops welcome visitors.
• Tharpaling Monastery — at 3,600m above the Chumey Valley, this ancient monastery was used by Longchenpa himself during his time in Bhutan. A 2-hour hike from the valley road. The views are exceptional.
• Kurjey Lhakhang — the site of Guru Rinpoche’s body imprint, in the Choekhor Valley of Bumthang, 20 minutes’ drive from Domkhar.
• Mebar Tsho (Burning Lake) — the sacred gorge in the Tang Valley where Pema Lingpa retrieved treasure texts from the water with a flaming torch. About an hour from Domkhar.