Tamshing Lhakhang, Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Bumthang District, Bhutan

Tamshing Lhakhang is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Bumthang and sits on a hilltop overlooking the Chamkhar River valley. The complex displays traditional Bhutanese architecture with monk quarters arranged around a central courtyard where daily religious activities take place.

The monastery was founded in 1501 by Buddhist saint Pema Lingpa and preserves original wall paintings and statues from that founding period. These structures have shaped Bhutanese spiritual life across the centuries since their creation.

Tamshing is the original home of the sacred dances performed at tsechus across Bhutan; Pema Lingpa revealed them and left them to the monastery's monks. The three-day Phala Choedpa festival, held in the eighth month of the Bhutanese calendar, is when they are staged here. Tamshing alone is said to perform the dances correctly.

Visitors should wear modest clothing with covered arms and legs when exploring the temple complex. The site requires respect for the monks and religious practices that occur daily in these spaces.

In the antechamber of the ground-floor shrine, a heavy chain-mail shirt is displayed, said to have been forged by Pema Lingpa himself, who was skilled in metalwork. Pilgrims who wear this armour and walk three times around the shrine are believed to have part of their sins erased.