Chimi Lhakhang

Chimi Lhakhang
View of Chimi Monastery and the chorten
Monastery information
Location	Punakha District, Bhutan
Founded	1499
Date renovated	1998-99
Type	Tibetan Buddhist
Lineage	Drukpa Kagyu
Dedicated to	Drukpa Kinley
Architecture	Bhutanese

Chimi Lhakhang, also known as Chime Lhakhang or Monastery or temple, is a Buddhist monastery in Punakha District, Bhutan.^[1] Located near Lobesa, it stands on a round hillock and was built in 1499 by the 14th Drukpa hierarch, Ngawang Choegyel, after the site was blessed by the "Divine Madman" the maverick saint Drukpa Kinley (1455–1529) who built a chorten on the site.^[2]

In founding the site it is said that Lama Kunley subdued a demon of Dochu La with his “magic thunderbolt of wisdom” and trapped it in a rock at the location close to where the chorten now stands. He was known as the "Mad Saint" or “Divine Madman” for his unorthodox ways of teaching Buddhism by singing, humour and outrageous behaviour, which amounted to being bizarre, shocking and with sexual overtones. He is also the saint who advocated the use of phallus symbols as paintings on walls and as flying carved wooden phalluses on house tops at four corners of the eves. The monastery is the repository of the original wooden symbol of phallus that Kunley brought from Tibet. This wooden phallus is decorated with a silver handle and is used to bless people who visit the monastery on pilgrimage, particularly women seeking blessings to beget children.^[3][4] The tradition at the monastery is to strike pilgrims on the head with a 10 inch (25 cm) wooden phallus (erect penis).^[5] Traditionally symbols of an erect penis in Bhutan have been intended to drive away the evil eye and malicious gossip.^[6]

History

The often mentioned origin of the symbolic phallus seen in the Chimi Monastery is as a legacy of the popular Bhutanese saint Lama Drukpa Kunley (1455–1529).^[7] Kunley migrated from Tibet, was trained in Ralung Monastery in Tibet, and belonged to the period of Pema Lingpa and was his disciple. He was a crazy saint who extensively travelled in Bhutan, who was fond of women and wine, and adopted blasphemous and unorthodox ways of teaching Buddhism. His sexual exploits included his hosts and promoters. He was utterly devoid of all social conventions and called himself the "Madman from Kyishodruk." His intention was to shock the clergy who were uppity and prudish in their behaviour and teachings of Buddhism. However, his ways appealed to the common man. It was he who propagated the legend of painting phalluses on walls and flying hanging phalluses from roof tops of houses to drive away evil spirits and subdue demonesses.^[8] The mad saint lived in a place known as Lobesa, close to the present day Chimi Lhakhang monastery, to drive away demonesses and protect the local people. According to the legend, he used to hit the evil forces with his penis (or cohabited with them) and turn them into protective deities.^[3][9]

He is also called the "fertility saint", as the Chime Lakhang monastery he built is visited by not only Bhutanese women but also people from the United States and Japan. Kunley's organ, as painted, is called the "Thunderbolt of Flaming Wisdom" as it unnerved demons and demonesses and subdued them. It is also said that he is "perhaps the only saint in the religions of the world who is almost exclusively identified with phallus and its creative power". It is for this reason that his phallus, as a symbol, is depicted in paintings on the walls of the houses, and he is shown in thangka paintings holding a "wooden stick with penis head".^[10]

Given the penis theme, today the monastery is a pilgrimage site for infertile women.^[2] The monastery underwent restoration work in 1998-99.^[2]

Geography

The Lhakhang is located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Punakha near a village called Sopsokha from where a 20 minutes walk along muddy and dusty path through agricultural fields of mustards and rice, leads to a hillock where the monastery and the chorten are situated. Prayer flags are lined all along the road from the tiny village hamlet known as Yowakha, along a drain or stream to the monastery. All houses in the village have paintings of phalluses on their exterior walls. The lama Kunley had called the hillock where the monastery exists as the breast of a woman because of its round shape.^[11][12]

Structure and traditions

The Lhakhang is of modest size, square in shape with a golden spire. It is a golden yellow roofed building. It has a row of prayer wheels and its exterior walls are embedded with slates carved with images of saints. Near the entrance to the Lakhang, there is this small chorten which marks the location where the demoness was subdued by Lama Kunley. The prayer hall in side the monastery has tantric paraphernalia, thangkas, bells, drums, horns, dorjis and a kangd. The statue of Kunley, in a monk's robe, is centrally located at the altar here, in a reclining position with a ceramic statue of his dog Sachi. Images of Zhabdrung, Sakyamuni Buddha and Chenresig are also deified in the monastery. Women who come to the monastery seeking blessings of children by getting hit on the head by the presiding Lama with 10 inches (25 cm)^[5] ivory, wood and bone phallus^[13] and to also get the name of the child to be born chosen by picking bamboo slips placed in the altar inscribed with names of boys and girls. It is also said that the small chorten at the altar was made by Kunley himself. There are also frescoes painted on the walls of the monastery depicting the Mad saint's colourful life.^{[3][9][11][12][14]}

Legend

There are several legends and anecdotes connected with the Lakhang and Drukpa Kunley. According to one legend Kunley, who was also known for his supernatural powers had predicted the death of other lamas, which came true. However, Lama Kunley and his dog Sachi, whose statues are deified in the monastery attained heaven.^[14]

A peculiar incident has been reported by a lady who visited the monastery with a local guide. She wanted to take a picture of the guide near a linden tree, also known as the Buddha tree. Before she could click her camera she saw a young person looking like a monk near the tree behind her guide and who stared at her intently with “ piercing eyes” and a smirk on his face as if telling her not to take the picture. When she moved her eyes away from the camera there was no body besides her guide. It was believed to be an apparition of the Lama Kunley. She felt strange, turned pale and moved away from the area.^[11]

Notes

1. ^ Pommaret, p.50
2. ^ ^{a b c} Pommaret, p.192
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Bhutan's phalluses warn off evil". British Broadcasting Corporation. 2005-03-25. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4381893.stm. Retrieved 2010-08-09. 
4. ^ Brown, p.78
5. ^ ^{a b} "Western Bhutan". Lonely Planet. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/shop_pickandmix/previews/bhutan-3-western-bhutan-preview.pdf. Retrieved 2010-08-10. 
6. ^ Aris, Michael, Hutt, Michael (1994). Bhutan: aspects of culture and development. Issue 5 of Kiscadale Asia research series, Kiscadale. ISBN 1870838173. 
7. ^ Brown, p.79
8. ^ Brown, p.136
9. ^ ^{a b} "Arts and Crafts of Bhutan". The Phallus : an arcane symbol. Keys to Bhutan. http://www.keystobhutan.com/bhutan/bhutan_art_phallus.php. Retrieved 2010-08-09. 
10. ^ Winer, Jerome A.; James William Anderson (2003). Psychoanalysis and history. Routledge. pp. 200–201. ISBN 0881633992. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=E3mR8TSnnIwC&pg=PA201&dq=Phallic+paintings+in+Bhutan&hl=en&ei=7l9eTLq4NseqcbvtldsO&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2010-08-09. 
11. ^ ^{a b c} Sze, Elsie (2009). The Heart of the Buddha: A Novel. Emerald Book (Distributor). p. 156. ISBN 1934572306. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=udcZCRYJ6OMC&pg=PA156&dq=Chimi+Lakhang&hl=en&ei=sUlhTIawHM7BcZHa0M8J&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2010-08-10. 
12. ^ ^{a b} Brown, p.145
13. ^ Pandey, Geeta (2005-03-25). "Bhutan's phalluses warn off evil". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4381893.stm. Retrieved 2010-08-10. 
14. ^ ^{a b} Singh, Nagendra Kumar (1996). International encyclopaedia of Buddhism, Volume 19. Anmol. p. 2899. ISBN 8174881565. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=dETYAAAAMAAJ&q=Chimi+Lakhang&dq=Chimi+Lakhang&hl=en&ei=sUlhTIawHM7BcZHa0M8J&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAQ. Retrieved 2010-08-10. 

References

• Brown, Lindsey; Bradley Mahew, Stan Armington and Richard Whitecross (2009). Bhutan. Penguin. ISBN 1740595297. http://books.google.com/books?id=s-L8NUlW_QgC&printsec=frontcover. 
• Pommaret, Francoise (2006). Bhutan Himlayan Mountains Kingdom (5th edition). Odyssey Books and Guides.

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