Khangma Chorten (Samdruptse)

Khangma Chorten, also called Samdruptse, is a whitewashed stone stupa on an open grassy shoulder above the Khangma valley in Yurung gewog, at about 1,060 m. Three tiers of small square niches rise to a round dome and a spire of stacked rings, topped with the sun and moon. A small lhakhang stands beside it, and beyond the fence the ground falls away to ridge after forested ridge.

Who built it

An inscription on a stone in front of the chorten says it was built in a Wood Female Snake year of the Bhutanese calendar. That year returns every sixty years, so the exact date is not known. Local tradition makes the chorten about two centuries old.

The builder was a carpenter, Tshewang Samdrup. His father Tsewang, his mother Wang Lhamo and a co-worker, Samdrup Wangzom, worked beside him. It was named Samdruptse and dedicated to the wellbeing of all sentient beings and to the honour of the Kagyu lamas.

The stones that ran out

Elders say the carpenter could not find stone good enough for the work, until a dream showed him where perfectly shaped stones lay hidden. He built with them for as long as they lasted. Then they vanished, and the upper courses had to be finished with ordinary stone of every shape and size. Others in the valley simply say the chorten was raised with the help of the khandro, the dakinis.

People also speak of a bright light around the stupa at night, believed to be the dakinis, and some say they hear sounds from it on auspicious days.

On to Yurung Tsho

Yurung Tsho, the chorten-ringed lake at the Yurung gewog centre, is 15 km on, 45 minutes to an hour on an unpaved road. See things to do in Pemagatshel for the rest of the district.