Together, the couple tried almost all possible means but to no avail. The wife wanted to adopt a child but the husband didn’t like the idea. Their marriage was increasingly becoming far from being happy. One day, their parents suggested that they get “help” from Chime Lhakhang that is known for fertility blessings and is known to have solved fertility problems on various occasions in the past. The couple finally decided to visit the temple, and when they did, they were soon blessed with a daughter. It was the recollection of this spiritually inspirational tale of my friend that made me visit this place.

I made my way through the paddy fields and clustered houses with beautiful phallus paintings. Interestingly, there is not a single house without phallus paintings on it. Phallus is a symbol of fertility and it is also regarded as a talisman to avert evil eyes. There are souvenir shops and cafeteria along the way. Aesthetically, the temple looked typical, so nothing much surprising was expected there, but the surprise came when the resident lama holding a replica of Lama Drukpa Kuenley’s bow and arrow with a 10-inch wooden phallus blessed me. The temple has a lot more, and a lot different, to offer.

The phallic culture of lobesa is attributed to Lama Drukpa Kuenley, the 15^th century saint who got the contemporary name the “Divine Madman” for his eccentric and outrageous behaviour, which included blessing people through sex and teaching Buddhism through shockingly unconventional ways, often with sexual overtones. Lama Drukpa Kuenley is said to have tamed demons by hitting them with his dorji (penis), a legendary appendage that came to be known as the “Thunderbolt of Flaming Wisdom”. He is well known for subduing the demoness of Dochula, Loro Duem, who terrorized travelers.

When Lama Drukpa Kuenley chased her over Dochula, she ran down to the valley of wangdue and transformed herself into a dog. The lama caught her by the ear, subdued her and buried her in a mound that he said is shaped like a woman’ breast. He then built a black choeten (stupa)  on the mound and said “ khyi-med” meaning “no dog”. This spot later became the site of the temple-Khyi-med Lhakhang. Over time, people started pronouncing the name as “Chi-med Lhakhang” which is sometimes misinterpreted to refer to temple as the “temple of immortality”.

As time passed, the legend of Lama Drukpa Kuenley earned him the title of “fertility saint”. It is for the gift of fertility that childless couples from all over Bhutan and beyond visit Chime Lhakhang. Pilgrims visit the temple not just to pray for the boon of babies, but also for the welfare of their children. There are stories of tourists who could not have children having received fertility blessings upon visiting this temple. Offerings made to the temple by grateful tourists as a token of gratitude for receiving fertility blessings can be seen in the temple today.

However, this temple is not all about fertility blessings. One won’t conceive just by visiting the temple and receiving blessings from it. On the day of my visit, I saw many people visiting the sacred monastery. Some were there to get fertility blessings, some to pray for the wellbeing of their children, and others to get names for their children. Selfish people like me were there to pray for their own health and wellbeing.

The monastery

Chime Lhakhang was built by Lama Ngawang Chogyal, an accomplished Buddhist master, in 1499. The lama dedicated it to his cousin lama Drukpa Kuenley. Situated at a distance of about 64 kms from Thimphu, Chime Lhakhang sit atop a round hillock which Lama Drukpa Kuenley likened to ‘a breast of a young woman’.  The turn-off to this temple is at right on the Thimphu-Punakha highway about a kilometer and a half towards Punakha from Lobesa.

The hillock where the temple stands is situated at a point where the ridges and rivers form a tri-junction. Usually such places are known to be home to evil spirits. Lama Drukpa kueunley tamed the malicious spirit that inhabited the place and held it under oath to protect the place and people in the locality. That spirit was named Aum Chhokimo. Aum Chhokimo is also known as Zomokey in a Hagiography. Today, she is the protecting female deity of Chime Lhakhang and the locality. Murals inside the temple depict the colourful life of Lama Drukpa Kuenley. Phalluses, metallic bow and an arrow believed to have been used by Lama Drukpa Kuenley. One of the most striking and sacred objects in the temple is a choeten crafted by Lama Drukpa Kuenley himself. It contains Wola Gyap’s belongings as the inner relic. Though small, this temple has many interesting stories to tell. One such story is that of wola Gyap.

Wola Gyap

In a nearby village of Wolakha, there lived an elderly man known as Wola Gyap, meaning the elder of Wolakha. Some books refer to him as Apa Gyapo. His unwavering faith in Lama Drukpa Kuenley made it possible for him to meet the lama in person. He requested the lama for a sermon that would help him prepare for death and attain enlightenment. The lama taught him a short prayer and told him to recite it whenever he thought of him. The prayer he was asked to recite was obscene and contained repeated reference to male and female genitals. In a conservative society, it was vulgar and rude to recite such a prayer in the presence of family members and relatives.

But Apa Gaypo’s faith in the lama didn’t deter him from reciting it when his family gathered for dinner. When everyone sat for dinner, he closed his eyes, joined his wrinkled hands and recited the prayer with all seriousness. Before he could complete the prayer, his daughter sprang up and left the room. His wife couldn’t believe that such an accomplished lama would teach her husband such a filthy prayer. She told the old man that he must have heard it wrong. Even if lama the lama had taught you the prayer, you shouldn’t recite it in the presence of our daughter, she scolded him. But the old man was stubborn. He said the lama had instructed him to recite it whenever he thought of the lama and he would continue to do so even at the cost of his life. So saying, the old man kept reciting the prayer regularly ever loudly.

Wola Gyap became a cause of embarrassment in his house, particularly during gathering because he kept saying his prayer loudly irrespective of who he was with. His family thought he has gone mad and confined him in a room where he continued to say his prayer day and night. Days went by and his family forgot to serve him his regular meals. He was hungry but didn’t stop his prayer. Each day, his body became weaker. Lama Drukpa Kuenley knew about his condition and made visit to him. The lama made a drupchhu ( holy water) appear near Wola Gyap. “This water is a substitute for food and drink for you” lama told the old man. It will be your food when you are hungry and chang (wine) whenever you want to have a drink. But do not drink it too much for you will drunk” thus warning the old man, the lama disappeared.  After a month, on one full moon night, the family did not hear Wola Gyap’s voice anymore. Curious, his wife sent their daughter to check out only to find a heap of quilt where the old man sat. Surprised, she ran to her mother who informed who informed the relatives and neighbours about the incident. The people who gathered witnessed a bright light come up from the heap of rags and rise into the sky. A voice followed the ray of light saying, “Lama Drukpa Kuenley has delivered me to the western paradise. You conservative people will remain where you are. Offer Lokthang Kamo, my ancestral land, to Lama Drukpa Kuenley as offering.” The family didn’t obey the divine order and were, therefore, deprived of offering.

The choeten crafted by lama himself at the spot where Ap Wola Gyap lived and prayed was later taken to Chime Lhakhang and is seen today as one of its most sacred objects of worship. The holy spring can be seen today as Wola Gyapai Drupchu which is considered one of the holiest in the locality. Some people call it Wola Gyapo’s Drupchu (Holy water of the king of Wolakha), which is untenable. It lies beside the highway at about four kilometers from Lobesa towards Punakha. Whether one believes in the blessings of chime Lhakhang, it is definitely not an ordinary temple.