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Gomphu Kora/ Gomkora, Trashiyangtse, Bhutan

In Chokoey (a classical script), Gomphu means “Meditation Cave” and Kora means “Circumambulation”. The name is derived from a cave formed out of a rock face next to a temple that has been built as a tribute to this sacred site. The story of Gomphu Kora goes back to the 8th century AD. Legend has it that an evil spirit called Myongkhapa escaped from Samye in Tibet when Guru Padmasambhava, the progenitor of the Nyingma strand of Buddhism, was spreading the Dharma in the Himalayas. Myongkhapa followed the course of the present day Kholongchhu stream and concealed himself inside a rock where Gomphu Kora stands today. The Guru followed the evil, mediated for three days inside the rock cave and finally vanquished it. The subjugation of the malignant spirit took wit and sheer cunning. To escape from the wrathful Guru, the spirit blasted the rock from the inside, carving a passage of escape. In another incident, the spirit transformed itself into a terrifying snake and appeared before the Guru as if to strike at him. The Guru then manifested as Garuda, a legendary bird, and captured the snake. Finally subdueing Myongkhapa, he was instructed to be the guardian diety of Gomphu Kora and was entrusted with the responsibility of guarding the doctrine. The legacy of these encounters is still visible today. The escape passage from the rock is frequented by Buddhist devotees who believe that the experience cleanses them of their worldly sins. The episode of the tussle between the Garuda and the snake is preserved through body imprints on the rock. Also visible inside the cave is the Guru’s thumbprint that signifies the undertaking by the spirit to submit to the Dharma. The rock is also the repository of many other spiritual attributes containing, among others, the Ters (treasures) associated with Avalokiteshvara (the God of Compassion), Manjusri (the God of Wisdom) and Vajrapani (Vajra Dharma Buddha) as well as the Tshebum, the longevity vase of Lhacham Pema Sol. The story of the longevity vase throws an interesting account of the early Buddhist history in the Himalayas. On the verge of dying, the Tibetan King, Thrisong Duetsan, pleaded with the Guru to grant him the boon of immortality. To pacify the adamant King, the Guru sent his disciple Atsara Salai ‘O’ to the cave of Mara Tika in Nepal where the Guru himself had attained immortality to obtain the ‘Longevity Vase.’ Unfortunately, as fate would have it, the king died when the vase reached Gomphu Kora. On the Guru’s instruction, the vase was concealed inside the rock to benefit future generations. It is said that, even today, “the water of long life” can be seen trickling out of the rock during the auspicious days. Several prominent religious personalities have undertaken pilgrimage to Gomphu Kora in the past millennium. One of the earliest was Gongkhar Gyal, a twin grandson of Lhasay Tsangma, who built a small shrine at Gomphu Kora around the 10th century A.D. A mendicant, Choying Gyatsho, is believed to have engraved mantras onto a stone at Gomphu Kora. This historical figure has later been identified as the son of the renowned treasure revealer Terton Dorji Lingpa.Terton Pema Lingpa, one of the five King Tertons, visited Gomphu Kora in the 14th century AD. He enlarged the existing shrine and revealed several treasures including a statue of the Buddha, Guru Padmasambhava’s amulet, the footprints of the Guru and his consort, and the footprints of the Guru’s riding horse. The Gomphu Kora temple was renovated and enlarged in the 15th century by Yongzin Ngagi Wangchuk, the grandfather of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel who founded Bhutan as a nation state. He also inscribed murals on the walls of the temple. Gyalse Tenzin Rabgay, the fourth temporal ruler of Bhutan, followed his footsteps about a hundred years later and renovated the temple. “Go around Gomphu Kora today for tomorrow may be too late”, so goes a local song that entices devotees to visit Gomphu Kora. The place comes alive, once every year, when people all over eastern Bhutan descend upon the narrow valley, dressed in fineries, to partake in the festivity, to worship and to reunite themselves with their illustrious past. The sanctity of the three day religious festival equally draws the Dakpa tribe in neighboring Arunachael Pradesh (India) who endure days of travel on foot. The spirit of romance, in fact, might have been perpetrated by the Great Guru himself. One of those indications comes in the form of a boulder, weighing up to 200 kilogrammes, that has to be lifted and carried around the black rock. The reward: fertility for barren women, and test of courage and strength among the men-folk before an audience of admiring women. No less arduous and romantic is the “sin cleansing” rigour, entering and exiting a dark and dank rock tunnel said to have been created during the duel between the Guru and the evil spirit.