One of the key highlights to any exploration of Bhutan is the Tiger’s Nest in Paro. First question is: why that name? The monastery is perched in a really dramatic mountain and legends says that Guru Rinpoche, the second Buddha with 8 manifestations, arrived in the Monastery flying on the back of a tigress to subdue a local deity/demon, hence the name. After subduing the demon, he meditated for 3 months in a cave inside the monastery.
Finding shelter in a series of caves, he meditated for some three years and then set about converting the Bhutanese to Buddhism. The monastery that commemorates this auspicious beginning was built nine centuries later, in the 1600s, although the buildings we see today have been replaced several times, including major reconstruction completed in 2005 after a fire devastated the structure and its contents in 1998. But as the Bhutanese point out, buildings are temporal and meant to be renewed; the ideas and philosophies they represent cannot be destroyed. The place is the most sacred Buddhist place in Bhutan and beyond and a destination for pilgrims.
The monastery can be reached either after a long overnight trek from the top of the montain or by a c.8km roundtrip trek from the bottom. It’s a steep climb to Taktsang, a monastery hugging the side of a rocky cliff 3,000 feet above the Paro valley in Bhutan, surrounded by dramatic pine forests and astonishing views of the valley below.
Beneath the promontory of rock, and across the chasm from the monastery, the cliff drops a couple of thousand feet to the gorge below. Carved into the exposed cliff face are stone steps with absolutely no handrails. This is the way to the Tiger’s Nest monastery.
Our guide had advised that it would be a vertical ascend and that the track may be a bit edgy for the kids…actually, 3months ago, a Thai lady fell off the clif and passed away while taking pictures…and so did a security guard recently….so it’s no picnic place….For those of who live at sea level it can be difficult to breathe comfortably while exercising vigorously at 10,000 feet, so a relaxed pace with plenty of rest was definitely the way to go, or alternatively, use a horse. We did it…with a bit of help….since we felt Valen and Carlos may need some help, we got them four legs to help them half way through. Our amazing guides, Chado and Pema helped them during the other half.
The final approach to the monastery after a climb of around two hours is over a bridge across a waterfall that drops 200 feet into a sacred pool. The entire area is wrapped in prayer flags, while crevices in the rock are crammed with tsa-tsas, small reliquaries containing ashes of the dead.
In one temple we encountered a monk watching over a door sealing the cave used by Guru all those centuries ago. It is opened only once a year in a special ceremony. The monk blessed us and poured saffron-laced water into our hands which we brought to our lips and splashed on the back of our heads… we went on our knees and did three prayers touching the floor with our foreheads, including the kids, as a sign of respect. We threw some money there as an offering….and also saw the image of the speaking Guru himself, who is said talked once when monks were installing his efige in the 16th century…In the next sanctuary we found a monk chanting from sacred texts. He too splashed holy water into our hands for our mouths and heads. Our guide invited us to sit quietly on the floor and meditate a while about where we were and what we were seeing. Cross-legged comfortably on a mat, feet pointed in respectfully, we felt the difference it made to be looking at the icons without the encumbrance of a camera. I became conscious of the complete silence of our situation in the clouds thousands of feet up on the side of a mountain deep in the Himalayas. It was a place to remember our dearest family members and friends, those present and past. It is a truly spiritual place.
Now, imagine that you are there, on top of the Nest alone, by yourself, trying to control one of your kids who is doing everything possible to disturb the monks, playing and jumping like a monkey with a knife…all the sudden, a young couple appears from nowhere and makes a gentle comment about how ‘spirited’ the kid is….you engage in a conversation because they just had a baby, equally spirited….and then you discover that we know someone in common in San Francisco….this was an amazing discovery and was no coincidence…I truly believe in Serendipity… that’s what happened….they were so kind that invited us that same night for dinner at their hotel…and we discovered some more things in common….truly remarkable….who knows what that friendship or ‘luck’ can take us?
“Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.”
― Ray Bradbury
― Ray Bradbury