Chimi Lhakhang, Buddhist monastery in Punakha, Bhutan.

Chimi Lhakhang is a small square Buddhist temple with a golden-yellow roof and a golden spire, standing on a round hillock near Lobesa in Punakha District. Its exterior walls are set with slates carved with images of saints, and a row of prayer wheels runs along the building. A small chorten near the entrance marks the spot where Drukpa Kunley is said to have subdued a demoness.

Chimi Lhakhang was built in 1499 by Ngawang Chogyal, the 14th abbot of Ralung Monastery, on a round hillock near Lobesa. His cousin Drukpa Kunley (1455–1529) had blessed the site and raised a chorten there, said to mark where he subdued a demon of Dochu La with his "magic thunderbolt of wisdom" and trapped it in a rock. The temple's name refers to the dog-demoness subdued at this spot; Kunley's biography gives the earlier name Khibur or Chibur Lhakhang.

Pilgrims are blessed by the presiding lama, who taps their heads with a 25 cm wooden phallus brought from Tibet by Drukpa Kunley, a rite called wang. Women hoping for children also draw bamboo slips from the altar, each inscribed with a boy's or girl's name, to choose the name of the child to come. Frescoes on the walls depict scenes from Kunley's life.

The walk starts in Sopsokha, a hamlet also called Yowakha, and follows a muddy or dusty path past mustard and rice fields, with prayer flags lining a stream. The route ends at the round hillock holding the monastery and its chorten. Houses along the way carry painted phalluses on their exterior walls.

The wooden phallus kept here, brought from Tibet by Drukpa Kunley, has a silver handle and is the original relic used to bless pilgrims; the presiding lama taps them on the head with it, a rite called wang. Childless women also draw bamboo slips from the altar, each inscribed with a boy's or girl's name, to choose the name of an unborn child.