JAMPA LHAKHANG

The Jampa Lhakhang monastery, like the Kyichu Lhakang monastery in Paro, is said to have been built over the body of the demoness slain by the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo around 659. Jampa is thus one of the country's oldest shrines. Legend has it that Guru Rinpoche stayed here, as he did in all the other temples in the valley, and left his mark. The temple was restored several times, and small chapels were added by the various kings around an enclosed courtyard. The courtyard hosts a strange festival every autumn: the population comes at night to purify themselves by running through an arch of fire.

At the entrance to the monastery, three stone steps correspond to the past, present and future. The first is the era of Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha. The step is covered with a plank, sunk into the earth. Then comes the present: the step is level with the ground. Finally, the last step evokes the future. According to legend, when the present-day step sinks into the ground, we will enter a new era in which men and gods will become one.

The main room, the oldest, is dedicated to Jampa (Maitreya), the Buddha of the future, whose monumental statue is flanked by those of the Buddhas of the past and present, and the eight principal bodhisattvas. Another room closes with paintings of Buddha surrounded by the eighteen Arhat and four lokapala, as well as Padmasambhava, surrounded by his two wives and eight forms.