His Holiness blesses devotees in Phuentsholing

His Holiness’s entourage will reach Samdrup Jongkhar today where he will inaugurate the Samdrup Jongkhar dratshang, the last dzongkhag to establish the rabdey headquarter in the country on March 8. Bhutan’s first monastic body, consisting of 30 monks, was instituted at the Cheri monastery in 1620, by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. The origin of the dratshang and the rabdeys in Bhutan dates back to that historic occasion.

His Holiness will conduct, for the first time in the east, the 15-day Moenlam Chhenmo, coinciding with the Chorten Kora festival in Trashiyangtse which begins today with the Dakpai Kora festival. It is a festival for the people of Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, followed by the Namgang Kora which is celebrated by the local people.

The Moenlam Chhenmo, which will now become an annual event, begins on March 16.

According to the secretary of the Moenlam Chhenmo committee in Trashiyangtse, the committee has constructed a permanent chhoekhang in Chorten Kora at a cost of Nu 0.9 million which can accommodate more than 1000 monks, gomchens and anims. Another temporary shed is being constructed to accommodate thousands of devotees.

After the Moenlam Chhenmo, His Holiness is scheduled to visit and consecrate the 300-year old Rigsum Goenpa monastery, which has been completely reconstructed. The reconstruction and restoration work began in May, 2000, after a team deputed by His Holiness the Je Khenpo found that the existing structure of the lhakhang was on the verge of collapse.

The Rigsum Goenpa monastery, a winding eight-hour mountain trail journey from Chorten Kora, was founded in the 18th century by Lam Tshering Gyamtsho, a close disciple of the 9th Je Khenpo Shacha Rinchen.