Prakhar Duchhoed
Festival

The Temple & Its Story

Prakhar Lhakhang — The White Monkey Temple

The name Prakhar — White Monkey — comes from a local legend about the lhakhang’s construction. When the temple was being built in the 16th century, the work was progressing slowly. According to the tradition of Chumey Valley, langurs (white monkeys native to the Himalayan forests) took up the work at night, continuing what the human builders had done during the day, and in this way the temple was completed more quickly than would otherwise have been possible. Whether the story is taken literally or as parable, it gives the lhakhang a character both humble and extraordinary: a community temple helped into existence by the natural world.

Prakhar Lhakhang is the main temple of the village in Chummi Gewog, Chumey Valley — the first of Bumthang’s four valleys when approaching from the west. It sits about 10 minutes’ walk from the road, accessible through the fields and farmhouses of the valley. The drive from Jakar (the administrative centre of Bumthang) takes approximately 30 minutes. The valley’s altitude is around 2,800 metres, and the landscape of the Chumey Valley — wide, gently cultivated, with the ridgelines of the Black Mountains to the north — is one of the most quietly beautiful in Bhutan.

Lama Thukse Dawa Gyeltshen — Son of Pema Lingpa

The festival honours Lama Thukse Dawa Gyeltshen, one of the sons of Terton Pema Lingpa (1450–1521), the great treasure-discoverer from Bumthang who is one of the five principal tertöns (treasure-revealers) of Tibetan Buddhism and one of the most revered figures in Bhutanese religious history. Pema Lingpa revealed numerous terma (hidden treasure texts) from sacred locations in Bumthang — including from the Mebar Tsho (Burning Lake) in the Tang Valley — and his Peling lineage remains one of the most influential spiritual traditions in Bhutan today.

His son Lama Thukse Dawa Gyeltshen continued his father’s tradition, established the Prakhar Lhakhang community, and is the figure the festival specifically honours. The Duchhoed — a death anniversary commemoration — is the appropriate form of remembrance for a lama of this lineage: it marks the moment of the master’s parinirvana (final passing) as the culmination and perfection of his life’s practice.

Duchhoed vs Tshechu — Why the Distinction Matters

Most major festivals in Bhutan are Tshechus — held on the 10th day of a lunar month to honour the birth anniversary of Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava). The Prakhar Duchhoed is different in kind: it is a Duchhoed, a commemoration of the death anniversary of a specific lama. This means the ritual programme is oriented toward the specific lineage, terma, and teachings of Pema Lingpa’s family rather than toward the broader Drukpa Kagyu Cham tradition of most dzong festivals. The Peling Chams performed here — dances composed within the Pema Lingpa lineage — have a distinct choreographic character: more fluid, more narrative, less martial than the wrathful dances of the western festivals.

For visitors with some knowledge of Bhutanese Buddhism, the Prakhar Duchhoed is one of the most theologically specific festivals available to attend: it is not a general celebration of Guru Rinpoche but a focused commemoration of a particular lineage, in the valley where that lineage was rooted, at the temple his son built.

Things to Do in the Chumey Valley Around the Festival

• Nimalung Monastery — a few kilometres down the Chumey Valley, the Nimalung Tshechu (June) features the Drametse Nga Cham (UNESCO) and one of the finest Thongdrels in Bumthang.
• Domkhar Lhakhang — also in the Chumey Valley, with its own Tshechu (April/May) featuring the Maitreya Thongdrel.
• Tharpaling Monastery — at 3,600m above the valley, the retreat site of Longchenpa himself. A 2-hour hike from the valley road, with exceptional views.
• Yathra weaving workshops — the Chumey Valley is Bhutan’s principal Yathra-weaving centre. The weavers of Zungye village welcome visitors; purchasing Yathra directly from the makers is one of the most satisfying craft experiences in Bhutan.
• Kurjey Lhakhang — 30 minutes from Chumey in the Choekhor Valley, one of the holiest sites in Bhutan, with the body imprint of Guru Rinpoche preserved in the temple cave.
• Mebar Tsho (Burning Lake) — the sacred gorge in the Tang Valley where Pema Lingpa retrieved terma by diving into the water with a lit torch. About an hour from Chumey.