Item: Architecture

Dungtse Lhakhang; location: Jangsa gewog, Paro district. The chorten-shaped Dungtse Lhakhang (zlum brtsegs lha khang) was built ca. 1433 by the famed Iron Bridge Builder Thangtong Gyalpo (thang stong rgyal po, 1361-1485), also known as Chagzampa (lcags zam pa). There are three levels in Dungtse Lhakhang, with a wide variety of iconographic subjects displacyed. The temple was renovated in the 19th century by the 25th Je Khenpo Sherab Gyaltsen (shes rab rgyal mtshan, 1772-1848; r. 1836-1839). The circumambulation path on the lower floor reveal narratives of the life of the Buddha and Guru Rinpoche in his Copper Mountain Paradise, as well as a series of forms of Drolma (Tara), Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara), Je Khenpos (religious heads of Bhutan), and the five Buddhas. The inner core of the ground floor has depictions of the 35 Buddhas of Confession. The second floor is painted with wrathful protective deities, including Palden Lhamo, and multiple forms of Goenpo (Mahakala). The third floor has a sculpted image of Thangtong Gyalpo, and the walls are painted with high-level meditational deities (yi dam), including Chakrasamvara, Hevajra, Vajravarahi, Guhyasamaja, Kalachakra and others. The inner core of the third floor is covered in depictions of the 84 Mahasiddhas undertaking practice. For more information on Thangtong Gyalpo, see Manfred Gerner, "Chakzampa Thangtong Gyalpo: Architect, Philosopher and Iron Chain Bridge Builder" (Trans. Gregor Verhufen) in Centre for Bhutan Studies, 2007. See also Cyrus Stearns, King of the Empty Plain: The Tibetan Iron-Bridge Builder Tangtong Gyalpo, 2007. For more on Dungtse Lhakhang, see The Dragon?s Gift: The Sacred Art of Bhutan, 2008.

Ariana Maki 3-2012