Tamzhing Phala Choepa
Festival

Terton Pema Lingpa & the Festival’s Origins

Pema Lingpa — The Treasure-Revealer of Bumthang

Terton Pema Lingpa (1450–1521) was born in the Tang Valley of Bumthang and is considered one of the five principal tertöns — treasure-discoverers — of Tibetan Buddhism. His terma (hidden treasure texts) were concealed by Guru Rinpoche in the 8th century and revealed by Pema Lingpa at sacred sites across Bumthang: from the Mebar Tsho (Burning Lake) in the Tang Valley, where he is said to have dived into the water carrying a lit butter lamp and emerged with a sealed casket, to rock faces and cliffs throughout the Choekhor and Chumey valleys. The Peling lineage he founded is one of the most important spiritual traditions in Bhutan and remains active to this day, with the 11th incarnation of Pema Lingpa — Sungtrul Rinpoche — currently overseeing Tamzhing Monastery.

In 1501, Pema Lingpa began construction on Tamzhing Lhakhang. The story of the site selection is specific: he was looking for an auspicious location in the Choekhor Valley when the earth spirits sent a miraculous pig to indicate the chosen place and level the ground for construction. In another version, his own protective deity Vajravarahi appeared to him in the form of a sow (pig) and presented him with the design for the building. Pema Lingpa then sculpted a pig mask and danced in it at the monastery’s consecration ceremony. The festival name — Phala Choepa — and the mask dances performed today all trace back to this founding moment.

The Three Extraordinary Treasures of Tamzhing

The Murals. The inner sanctum of Tamzhing Lhakhang contains 36 original murals painted by Pema Lingpa himself between 1501 and his death in 1521. These are Bhutan’s oldest surviving artworks. Each depicts a central deity surrounded by attendants in a style that reflects early 16th-century Nyingma iconography at its finest. The upper floor murals include a striking yellow-on-red depiction of the Three Bodies of Buddha (Amitabha, Avalokiteshvara, and Padmasambhava), 1,004 images of the Buddha, and 21 Taras. The collection is without parallel in Bhutan and among the most significant in the wider Himalayan world. Bring a torch: the interior is dark and the murals reward close study. Photography is not permitted inside.

The Chain Mail Coat. In the ground-floor sanctuary, Pema Lingpa’s original chain mail coat is kept on a wooden stand. It weighs 25 kilograms. Pilgrims who believe they are without serious accumulated sins are invited to try to carry the coat three times around the exterior of the monastery as a form of blessing and sin-purification. Most cannot complete the circuit. Those who do receive what is considered a particularly powerful transmission from Pema Lingpa himself.

The Statue. The Guru Rinpoche statue in the ground-floor sanctuary was said to have been sculpted by the Khandums — celestial female deities who assisted Pema Lingpa in the monastery’s construction. It has two unusual features: the eyes slope upward (said to be watching angels in flight), and Guru Rinpoche is depicted barefoot — a detail almost unique in Bhutanese religious art. The statue is displayed in a glass case near the entrance.

The Festival Programme

The Tamzhing Phala Choepa runs for three days in September or October. The Cham dances are performed in the monastery’s small, intimate courtyard by the 100-plus monks of Tamzhing under the oversight of Sungtrul Rinpoche. The programme includes the Peling Sung Cham — dances in the specific choreographic tradition of Pema Lingpa — and the Khandroi Gar Cham, the 500-year-old dance first performed at the monastery’s consecration and the oldest dated Cham in Bhutan. The “dance of the stag and the hunter” and the “dance of three kinds of gings” are also performed. On the final day, sacred Nangtens (relics) are brought out for public veneration — devotees queue to press their foreheads against the relics and receive their blessing directly.

Things to See in the Choekhor Valley Around the Festival

• Kurjey Lhakhang — directly across the Chamkhar river from Tamzhing, one of the holiest sites in Bhutan. The cave where Guru Rinpoche left his body imprint is inside. The Kurjey Tshechu (June) brings both temples into a single festival season.
• Jambay Lhakhang — 2km from Tamzhing, one of the oldest temples in Bhutan (7th century). The Jambay Lhakhang Drup (October/November) with its midnight naked fire dance is held nearby.
• Mebar Tsho (Burning Lake) — 45 minutes east in the Tang Valley, the sacred gorge where Pema Lingpa retrieved terma from the water with a flaming torch. A direct pilgrimage connection to the festival’s founder.
• Jakar Dzong — 5km away, Bhutan’s largest dzong and the Castle of the White Bird. The Jakar Tshechu is held here in October/November, potentially combinable with the Tamzhing festival in the same autumn visit.