Jangtsa Dumtseg Lhakhang, Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Paro, Bhutan.
Jangtsa Dumtseg Lhakhang is a three-story temple built in the form of a chorten, a shape rarely used for Bhutanese temples. It stands on a hill between the Paro and Dopshari valleys, across a bridge from Paro town. Its three levels are conceived as a mandala, linked by steep ladders, and its walls carry extensive Buddhist paintings and iconography of the Drukpa Kagyu school.
Thangtong Gyalpo (1385–1464), also called Chagzampa, built the chorten-form temple in 1421, though some sources give 1433; he is credited with eight iron bridges in Bhutan. In 1841 the 25th Je Khenpo, Sherab Gyeltsen, restored it with help from local villagers, who carved donors' names into the tree-trunk columns of the ground floor.
The three storeys correspond to hell, earth and heaven, matching the levels of initiation in Drukpa Kagyu practice. The ground floor holds the Five Buddhas of Meditation, Avalokiteshvara, Guru Rinpoche and Thangtong Gyalpo; the second floor carries Mahakala on the outer wall with a hundred peaceful and wrathful deities and Bardo on the inner wall; the third floor shows the five-deity mandala of the Shangpa school, with Guhyasamaja, Vajrabhairava, Cakrasamvara, Hevajra, Kalacakra, Vajravarahi, Hayagriva and Mahamaya outside and the 84 Indian saints, Marpa, Milarepa and Gampopa within.
The sanctuary sits across a bridge from Paro town, positioned near the National Museum of Bhutan. It can be easily visited while exploring the wider Paro area and its cultural landmarks.
The temple's chorten form was chosen, according to tradition, to immobilise demons and proclaim the victory of Buddhism; local legend says Thangtong Gyalpo built it over a serpentine force at the foundation. The Bhutan Postal Corporation issued a first-day post card of the temple valued at Nu 10.
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