Nimalung Dratshang and the Nimalung Tshechu
Nimalung Dratshang is a monastery in the Chumey valley, founded in 1935, and its tshechu falls in June — which makes it one of the very few festivals in Bhutan outside the spring and autumn cluster everybody plans around. 22–24 June 2026; 12–14 June 2027. Entry is included in your tour.
Why the date matters more than usual
Bhutan’s festival year is front- and back-loaded. Ask anybody when to come for a tshechu and you will be told March to May or September to November, and that advice is right for almost every festival in the country.
Nimalung is in the fifth Bhutanese month — June. If you are travelling in early summer, when the big western festivals are months away in either direction, this is the one that is actually happening. It is a genuinely useful thing to know and it is the reason this page exists rather than being a line on the festival calendar.
The dates are lunar and they move: 22–24 June 2026, 12–14 June 2027. Check the Bhutan festival calendar before you build anything around them, and the Nimalung festival tour is the trip we build around it.
What happens
Mask dances in the monastery grounds across three days, and the centrepiece: a giant thongdrol of Guru Rinpoche unfurled and then rolled away again. Thongdrol means “liberation on sight” — the idea being that seeing one is itself enough, which is why people travel a long way to stand in front of a piece of cloth for an hour.
Ask us which day the thongdrol falls on. It is not the same day every year and it is the day most people would plan around.
Dress: shoulders and knees covered, long sleeves, no hats. Bhutanese people dress formally for a tshechu and visitors are expected to make an effort. Seating is the ground, so bring something to sit on.
Photography: the dances in the courtyard are fine; inside the temple is not; and during the unfurling, follow what your guide tells you.
The monastery itself
Nimalung was founded in 1935 by Dasho Gonpo Dorji with Doring Trulku Jamyang Kunzang, the third mind incarnation of the great terton Jigme Lingpa — which places it squarely in the Nyingma world the rest of Bumthang belongs to, rather than as an unexplained Tibetan import.
It runs a shedra of around 150 monks and a drubdey, a meditation centre, and it is known for its murals.
Outside festival time it is a level, unhurried stop of about an hour in the Chumey valley, and the natural pairing is Tharpaling up the feeder road from Gyetsa. Chumey sits between Trongsa and Jakar, so a Chumey half-day fits neatly onto the day you drive in or the day you drive out. See things to do in Bumthang for how it compares with the other three valleys.
Tours that visit Bumthang
Frequently asked questions
When is the Nimalung Tshechu?
22–24 June 2026 and 12–14 June 2027 — the fifth month of the Bhutanese calendar. The dates are lunar and move each year; the current ones are in the festival calendar.
Why is Nimalung unusual among Bhutanese festivals?
Because it is in June. Bhutan's festival calendar is heavily weighted to spring and autumn, and a visitor working from "come in March or October" will miss this one entirely. It is one of very few tshechus where a thongdrol is unfurled in the middle of the year.
Who founded Nimalung Dratshang?
It was founded in 1935 by Dasho Gonpo Dorji together with Doring Trulku Jamyang Kunzang, the third mind incarnation of the terton Jigme Lingpa.
What is a thongdrol?
A giant appliqué scroll painting, unfurled against a building or hillside for a few hours and then rolled away. Thongdrol means "liberation on sight" — seeing one is held to be enough. Nimalung's is of Guru Rinpoche.
Is Nimalung worth visiting outside festival time?
It is a working monastery with a shedra of around 150 monks and a meditation centre, and it is a straightforward Chumey valley stop of about an hour. But the tshechu is the reason to plan around it. Ask us.
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