Jambay Lhakhang Drup
Festival

The Sacred Performances

The Cham Dances — A Repertoire Shaped by Two Tertöns

Many of the Cham dances performed at Jambay Lhakhang Drup are attributed to two of Bhutan's great treasure-discoverers: Terton Pema Lingpa, the 15th-century tertön born in Bumthang whose spiritual legacy permeates every valley of the region, and Terton Dorje Lingpa, whose 14th-century revelations gave the festival several of its most singular performances, including the Tercham itself. Both men are considered among Bhutan's five great tertöns — treasure-discoverers who revealed teachings and sacred objects concealed by Guru Rinpoche centuries before.

Singye Cham — The Lion Dance

Performed by dancers in elaborate lion masks and costumes, the Singye Cham depicts the lion as a symbol of the Buddha's teaching — the "Lion's Roar" of the Dharma that silences all opposition. Read our full profile of the dance for its complete story and symbolism.

Gomazhi — Dance of the Four Directions

Performed by four dancers in white, yellow, red, and green masks representing the wrathful deities of the four cardinal directions, the Gomazhi illustrates forms said to manifest in the Bardo, the intermediate state between death and rebirth. If the deceased recognises them in their wrathful form, tradition holds they transform into peaceful counterparts and lead the departed toward the pure land — a teaching aid for the living as much as a performance, since all spectators are meant to recognise these deities themselves.

Tre Ging

Two dancers, one in a white mask and one in black, symbolise virtuous deeds and negative actions respectively. Terton Dorje Lingpa introduced the Tre Ging in the 14th century after directly experiencing it in a pure vision — a reminder that these dances were not composed as drama, but revealed to enlightened masters much as the relics themselves were.

Tshog Cham

Dancers wearing masks with different animal faces embody the fifty-eight wrathful and forty-two peaceful deities believed to exist within the mind, appearing during the Bardo after death. Encountering the wrathful deities without fear is said to lead toward a more favourable rebirth — fear itself is the obstacle the dance teaches its audience to overcome.

Dance of Nyulema

Nyulema was a local spirit who fiercely opposed the arrival of Buddhism in the Himalayas, ultimately subdued by Guru Rinpoche. The dancer's black-faced mask, walking stick, and bag of diseases represent the outer, physical form of an evil spirit — but the deeper teaching points inward, toward the negative thoughts of ignorance, anger, and attachment that are the more dangerous evil spirits residing within the mind itself.

Raksha Mangcham — Judgement of the Dead

Performed as part of the festival's broader repertoire, the Raksha Mangcham depicts the intermediate state between death and rebirth, the same dance performed at Thimphu's festivals — a reminder that Bhutan's Cham repertoire, while locally distinct, draws on a shared body of sacred choreography across the country.

The Rituals That Make This Festival Unique

The Mewang — The Fire Blessing Ceremony

As darkness falls on the festival, monks conduct a Fire Offering Prayer beginning around 10:00 p.m. — the head Lama wards off evil spirits by moving through each individual chapel of the temple, throwing blessed mustard seeds mixed with white fire stone gravel to expel any lingering evil spirits, dressed in the same wrathful apron and black hat worn for the Black Hat Dance. Assistant lamas carry a painted triangular torma representing magical daggers, later cast into the fire itself.

There are four traditional kinds of fire offering — Peace, Increase, Power, and Wrath — and the Mewang at Jambay Lhakhang includes all four, which is part of why it is considered especially effective. A gate-like structure built from dried grasses and leaves is set ablaze in an adjacent field, and participants run beneath the burning gate, embers falling around them, believing the flames burn away their accumulated obstacles for the year ahead. The blessing is especially sought by women hoping to conceive — couples travel great distances specifically to participate. Completion of the Fire Offering signals that the ground has been purified and the festival proper can begin; the Black Hat Dance that follows immediately afterward is the same dance performed at other Bhutanese tshechus.

The Tercham — The Sacred Naked Dance at Midnight

The Tercham is one of the most singular ritual performances in the Himalayan world. Performed at or just before midnight on the festival's first night, it involves around sixteen men who emerge into the temple courtyard with their faces wrapped in white cloth and masks, but otherwise completely naked, dancing to traditional drums and cymbals for roughly an hour.

The dance's origin traces to Terton Dorje Lingpa, who received a prophecy from Guru Rinpoche about a monastery being torn down by demons each night as fast as it was built by day. He introduced the Tercham as a sacred distraction — the demons, transfixed by the dancers, ceased their destruction long enough for the monastery to be completed and consecrated. The dance originated at Nabji Korphu in Trongsa and was brought to Jambay Lhakhang for its own consecration, performed at midnight ever since.

Photography of the Tercham is not a guideline — it is an absolute prohibition, and one of the few events in Bhutan's festival calendar where cameras must be put away entirely. Timing matters too: local belief holds that performing the dance even slightly early or late invites misfortune. In 2007, when the dance began slightly late, witnesses recall the sky turning dark and a sudden hailstorm disrupting the festival; in 1995, performed early at 11:00 p.m., strong winds and rain destroyed tents and temporary shops around the grounds. Whether coincidence or not, these events are cited locally as evidence that the dance's timing is not merely ceremonial.

The Festival's Master of Ceremonies

The Gep Ap Atsara — More Than a Clown

At any major Bhutanese festival, the red-masked Atsaras provide comic relief between the sacred dances — but at Jambay Lhakhang Drup, the chief clown carries genuine authority. Locally known as the Gep Ap Atsara, he manages the entire festival from beginning to end. He must be mature and deeply knowledgeable about every dance's choreography and every ritual's meaning: if performers make a mistake in their steps, or a costume or mask needs fixing mid-performance, the Gep Ap Atsara is the one who intervenes immediately. The role carries an importance that makes him almost equal in standing to the head Lama himself — traditionally the oldest man among the sacred dancers.

On the third day, women gather in a line wearing formal attire, carrying wine pots decorated with yangtron — butter shaped like tiny tusks — as an offering to the Gep Ap Atsara. As each woman stands before him, he asks about her individual wishes and grants blessings by touching her head with his wooden phallus, in the middle of the Black Hat Dance, which pauses specifically for this ceremony to take place.

The word Atsara itself is a corruption of the Sanskrit "Acharya," meaning accomplished master — the clowns are understood as emanations of great Indian tantric adepts, using humour rather than solemnity to point toward the same enlightenment the sacred dances teach.

The Temple

Jambay Lhakhang — One of Bhutan's Oldest Temples

The temple that hosts this festival is itself extraordinary. Its inner core is the main chapel where a statue of Buddha Maitreya is enshrined, surrounded by eight bodhisattvas stylistically similar to those at Paro's Kyichu Lhakhang — this inner chapel is the original 7th-century structure, with noble families, lamas, and local chieftains adding further temples around it over the centuries. Unlike Kyichu, which has required restoration several times after natural calamities, Jampa Lhakhang is said to have never been destroyed by fire, flood, wind, or earthquake.

Guru Rinpoche used the temple as a residence during his visit to Bumthang, and a small room above the main entrance is still believed by local people to have been his very seat. Four differently coloured stupas surround the temple to the south, east, north, and west, representing the four guardian deities. The temple is also said to have once had four front steps symbolising the four eons of the Buddhas — the step now half-sunken is said to belong to Shakyamuni, the Buddha of the present era; when it finally sinks level with the ground, tradition holds that Maitreya, the fifth Buddha, will descend to earth and a new era of Buddhism will begin.

Inside the temple complex, the first King of Bhutan, Gongsar Ugyen Wangchuck, installed the Dus Kyi Khorlo — the Kalachakra Wheel of Time — to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Changlimethang in 1885. Later, Ashi Wangmo, younger sister of the second King, built the Chorten Lhakhang adjacent to the main temple.

Things to Do in Bumthang During the Festival

• Kurjey Lhakhang — one of Bhutan's most sacred temple complexes, built around the cave where Guru Rinpoche left a body imprint in the rock. A short drive from Jambay Lhakhang.
• Mebar Tsho (The Burning Lake) — a sacred pool in the Tang Valley where Terton Pema Lingpa famously retrieved treasure texts from the water by diving in with a flaming torch.
• Tamshing Lhakhang — founded by Pema Lingpa himself in 1501, containing some of Bhutan's finest original murals. A chain mail coat belonging to Pema Lingpa is kept here.
• Prakhar Duchhoed — another festival held simultaneously in the Chumey Valley of Bumthang during the same days, about 30 minutes by road.
• Bumthang brewery and local food — Bumthang produces Bhutan's most celebrated Red Panda beer. Local buckwheat pancakes (khuray) are a festival-time staple.