April 10, 2023
THIMPU – Chapcha Darjaychoeling Goenzin Dratshang, also known as Dokhachoe Goenpa in Chukha, is a very popular pilgrimage site. Pilgrims from across the country come here to offer prayers to Lhamo Ekajati, known popularly as Aum Kangchim.
It is believed that your every wish will come true if your prayers for Aum Kangchim are sincere. Today, for people planning to go abroad, the goenpa is a must-visit pilgrimage site. Many come here to pray for Visa.
On weekends, at least 100 people visit the goenpa. Some come with their passport and Visa to thank Aum Kangchim.
According to the dratsang’s Uzin (principal), Tobgay, people say that Aum Kangchim grants their wishes. “I have seen many people come back to thank Aum Kangchim.”
It is believed that the people of Chapcha have prospered because of Aum Kangchim’s blessings.
Temple at Tumdra Ami Nye
Who is Aum Kangchim? How did she come to Chapcha?
According to Tobgay, Aum Kangchim is Pel Yeshey Goenpo’s second mother of his four mothers. She is a guardian of mantras with a single top-knot, an eye in the middle of her forehead, a fang, and a breast. Her statue at Dokhachu Goenpa was brought from Tumdra Ami Nye in Dala, Phuentsholing during the Duar war in 1864.
According to oral history, the dzongpoen (governer) and khangnyer (caretaker) brought the statue with them and when it reached a place called Chapcha Zhomola, it could not be taken further.
When the two devotees asked where it would like to be taken, the statue is believed to have turned towards where Dokhachoe Goenpa stands today.
Dokhachoe Goenpa was founded in 1650 by Choeje Thinley Jamtsho, a grandson of Phajo Drukgom Zhipo. Choeje Thinley Jamtsho was Zhabdrung’s drungchen, (secretary) who travelled through Chapcha after his return from Ladakh.
Choeje Thinley Jamtsho is said to have meditated in eight directions of the Lhakhang. And after three days of meditation from a cliff near the goenpa, it is said that he saw Khachoe Dakpai Zhingkham (a heavenly abode) through the cliff. Hence the name Dokhachoe Goem.
The statue of Aum Kangchim at Dokhachoe Goenpa is believed to have been discovered by Terton Drukdra Dorji from a hill of Tumdra Ami Nye as a ter (treasure).
Terton Drukdra Dorji is said to have lived at the Chapcha Dzong for a decade.
Tobgay said that there is no record that the Terton visited the goenpa. It must have been Aum Kangchim’s destiny to be here and the Terton’s prayers that brought Aum Kangchim here.
According to Tobgay, the goenpa has been receiving donations from Bhutanese living abroad.
I met a visitor from Thimphu who had come to pray for his Visa approval. He said, “Everyone is here to seek Aum Kangchim’s blessings and I have heard stories of how she fulfils our wishes.”