📷 Educational Video. Ugyen Guru Lhakhang is a remote monastery located on the ridgeline of one of the 4,000-meter peaks that border the west side of the Paro Valley

The history o the Lhakhang

Pangbisa Ugyen Guru Lhakhang has the Kudung's head of Terton Sherab Mebar.

Terton Sherab Mebar came to Ha valley from Kham (Tibet) in the 15th century.

Above Ha valley there is a lake called Nuptshonapatra. From the bed of that lake Terton Sherab Mebar took out a trumpet, a drum, and a pair of cymbals by putting entire water of the lake into his mouth through his miraculous powers.  

Along with those items he also found a golden pillar which Terton wants to offer to Paro Dzong. He asked some carpenters to cut out for him and as a reward the carpenters were asked to take the shavings of the pillar. 

The carpenters became very greedy and started cutting the pillar in such a way that whole chunks dropped off from it. Watching their greediness Terton signaled with his head and warned them to stop as he could not talk but the carpenter paid no heed and took out more shavings of gold from the Pillar.

The Terton ultimately could not hold anymore, so he opened his mouth and said not to do that. 

Instantly, the lake flowed down from his mouth into its rightful place and drowned the carpenters.  

The lake then ran after Terton. He threw away the drum while he tried to escape from it. But the lake followed in hot pursuit. Like he did with the drum, the Terton slowed down the onward rush of the lake by flinging before it, the drumstick, the trumpet, and a part of cymbal; and as he kept running, he eventually reached the Labdza of Tshellutsho. 

There, Chungdue appeared in person, and negotiated an agreement of peace whereby, it is said, the Terton and his followers should never set foot in Ha Shogona. In return, the deity of the lake was forbidden from crossing Labdza. Thus the followers of Terton of Paro Pangmisa do not have any relationship with the people of Ha Shogona. 

After reaching Pangbisa, the Terton sat down on a stone and meditated. The main statue of Guru Rinpoche in the Ugyen Guru lhakhang at Pangbisa was built on the very same stone where he meditated. 

This Guru Rinpoche statue is also a very special statue since it talked once during construction.  

Legend has it that the sculptor finished making the Guru Rinpoche's body but failed to come with head despite countless attempt. 

They felt defeated when there was a knock on the gate. The chief sculptor sent his assistant to open the door who informed him about three women with a clay Guru’s head. The chief wanted to see if the head fitted their statue, so asked his assistant to bring the head. 

He put the clay head on the statue and it perfectly fitted. So he again asked his assistant to bring the women in so that he can pay but the women were nowhere to be found. The three women were believed to the Khadroms. 

But the chief sculptor found out that the head was bended while trying, so he tried to take the head out and fix it well. No matter how hard he tried, he failed. At that time, the Guru statue spoke and told him that he is comfortable in that position.   

After the Terton’s death at his early age in Baylangdra, in Wangdi, the peple of Pangbisa brought his dead body and kept as their main relic in the Lhakhang. 

Once, the Paro Penlop aka Penlop Haap visited the lhakhang and found out the kudung. Sensing its importance and danger of being stolen, ordered the people of Pangbisa to donate it to Paro Dzong. The people refused, so the penlop negotiated. The people of Pangbisa will be waved off any form of tax for three years and will be given preference to sit in the VIP cabin during the Paro Tshechu. 

After few years the kudung was taken to the Dzong, the people of Pangbisa realized that their precious relic which they bartered with the tax waiver was not justifiable. They wanted to have the kudung back but could not go against the Penlop.

They planned a secret act to steal it. The people of Pangbisa had a very good relation with the people of Woochu who were and are still known for their iron works (presently opposite Paro airport). They ordered precise iron rods with hooks at the end. 

Meanwhile the kudung was kept in a wooden box in the Marchey Lhakhang of the Dzong which was at the ground floor of the Dema Lhakhang. 

There was a monk from Pangbisa who garnered much admiration of the Dzong administration that he was appointed the caretaker of the Dema Lhakhang. 

Every year the entire monastic body of the Dzong visited Kitchu lhakhang for a religious ritual (which is still practiced, that’s what I heard but I am not very sure what it is and when it is done) 

The people of Pangbisa informed the caretaker of Dema lhakhang to refrain from going to Kitchu Lhakhang that day. The people came with the iron rods and a corpse made from clay so that they can steal the kudung and replace it with the corpse. 

Once in the Dema Lhakhang, they made hole, the size of the kudung, and pulled up the kudung with the iron rod but realized that only the head would come out and not the whole body. 

They were running out of time, so they cut the head of the kudung and replaced it with the clay heard from the corpse. They then put down the kudung with the clay head and sealed the floor of the Dema Lhakhang. 

Nobody knew about the act. 

During the time, the kudung was offered new Namzha (clothes) every three years. When the Penlop opened the box to offer new Namzha, they were shocked to find the Kudung with a clay head. The penlop tried to take out the clay head but failed. So he kept as it is thinking that it was a lungten (prophecy) 

The Dzong administration people became very furious with the people of Pangbisa as no other would have done the ridiculous act than the people of Pangbisa. A war was planned against the people of Pangbisa. 

The wise Penlop ordered his people to refrain from war against people of Pangbisa as the Kudung originally belonged to them. He advised them to get a special thing from Pangbisa as a return for the head of the kudung. 

The special thing was a golden Reim (Cymbal) that the Terton brought from Lake Gunapata. (it is believed that the Terton threw the other one to save himself when people chased him and the Reim Tsho or the cymbal lake can be seen still today. It is shaped like a cymbal with a slight miraculous bulge in the center)

The Penlop had so much faith in the kudung that he tried to jump into the fire to save the kudung when Paro Dzong was raised by a major fire. The Penlop was knocked unconscious. When he regained his consciousness, the first thing that he asked was whether the kudung could be saved.

It is also said the Penlop did not eat for days as the kudung was lost. 

That is how the Golden cymbal came to the Paro Dzong and the kudung’s head remained at Pangbisa. The golden cymbal is used in a special mask dance on the first day of the Paro tshechu which is conducted inside the paro dzong. The head of the kudung can still be found in Pangbisa Ugyen Guru Lhakhang.

The history of the Lhakhang was posted in the Facebook page and ©goes to the owner of this facebook page https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0n5m3Smrc9NzzjmGzCkavVRUNBA5XeRhxLuJjyYta7rVmBFVWpCrGdZEsYCXteL2Ql&id=100022245544780&mibextid=ZbWKwL

Here is a day blog video .

https://youtu.be/tsIoa1NbXwk