Zangtho Pelri Lhakhang
Situated in city centre, this small temple represents the heaven of Guru Rinpoche. On ground floor there are statues of eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche and paintings on Buddha’s life while the next floor contains eight Bodhisattavas and statues of Avalokiteshvara and Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. On top floor, there is a main statue of Amitabha.

Kharbandi Goemba
Founded in 1967 by Royal Grand Mother, Ashi Phuntsho Choedron and situated at the altitude of 400m, this beautiful monastery contains paintings on the life of Buddha, statues of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and Guru Rinpoche. From the monastery garden there is a fascinating view of Phuentsholing town and surrounding plains.

Wangdue Phodrang
Kyichu Lhakhang, (also known as Kyerchu Temple or Lho Kyerchu) is an important Himalayan Buddhist temple situated in Lamgong Gewog of Paro District in Bhutan.
The Jowo Temple of Kyichu is one of the oldest temples in Bhutan, originally built in the 7th century by the Tibetan Emperor Songtsän Gampo. It is considered to be one of the 108 border taming temples he built.

Khamsum Yuley Temple
Kyichu Lhakhang, (also known as Kyerchu Temple or Lho Kyerchu) is an important Himalayan Buddhist temple situated in Lamgong Gewog of Paro District in Bhutan.
The Jowo Temple of Kyichu is one of the oldest temples in Bhutan, originally built in the 7th century by the Tibetan Emperor Songtsän Gampo. It is considered to be one of the 108 border taming temples he built.

Kyichu Lhakhang
Kyichu Lhakhang, (also known as Kyerchu Temple or Lho Kyerchu) is an important Himalayan Buddhist temple situated in Lamgong Gewog of Paro District in Bhutan.
The Jowo Temple of Kyichu is one of the oldest temples in Bhutan, originally built in the 7th century by the Tibetan Emperor Songtsän Gampo. It is considered to be one of the 108 border taming temples he built.

In the 8th century the temple was visited by Padmasambhava and it is believed he concealed many spiritual treasures here.

Je Khenpo Sherab Gyaltshen wrote that during the 12th century the temple was looked after by the Lhapa Kagyu tradition and that during the 13th century it was handed over to a descendant of Phajo Drugom Zhigpo’s son Nyima.

In his The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: It’s Fundamentals and History, Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (2nd Dudjom Rinpoche) records that the Jowo Temple of Kyichu could not be seen and that Pema Lingpa (1450-1521) uncovered the temple and restored it as it was before.

In 1644 the temple was taken over by Ngawang Namgyal. From 1836 to 1838 the temple was restored and re-consecrated by the 25th Je Khenpo Sherab Gyaltshen.

In 1971, Kesang Choden Wangchuck, the queen of Jigme Dorji Wangchuck built a Guru Temple next to the old Jowo Temple which was consecrated by Dilgo Khyentse. Ever since then the annual rites of great accomplishment for the deities Vajrasattva, Palchen Heruka, and Vajrakilaya have been held in this temple for the well being of the country under the patronage of Kesang Choden Wangchuck.

There is a belief that the two orange trees in the courtyard of Kyichu Lhakhang bear fruit throughout the year.

Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary
Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary located mostly in Trashigang District and just crossing the border into Samdrup Jongkhar District, Bhutan. It is one of the country’s protected areas.

Merak, Bhutan
Merak is a settlement in the far east of Bhutan. It is located in Trashigang District.

Merak is located under Sakteng Dungkhag, which falls under Trashigang District. The community is predominated by unique race well known as Brokpas ” Highlanders”. The place is two days walk from the road point till 2012; however, with the support of the government the place is linked with farm road till Phungshingmang. Its very difficult to believe, but the historically, the area is well known for myestic animal Yeti “Big foot” and popularly known as YETI valley.

Thangbi Lhakhang
The ThangbiLhakang Temple is located a short distance away from the KurjeyLhakahng temple in the Bumthang Valley of Bhutan. Since there is no motor able road to this temple the only way to get there is by foot, the temple can be reached by completing a two hour walk up the picturesque Choker Valley of Bumthang. The temple was established in 1470 by Shamar Rinpoche. The monastery was later taken over by ChokkiDrakpa who converted it to the Kagyudpa sect; the monastery then came under the control of Trenton PemaLingpa who then converted it to a Nyingmapa monastery. There is a huge iron curtain that hangs from the entrance and is believed to have be cast by the great Trenton PemaLingpa himself.

The Gangteng Monastery
The Gangteng Monastery generally known as Gangtey Gonpa or Gangtey Monastery, is an important monastery of Nyingmapa school of Buddhism, the main seat of the Pema Lingpa tradition. located in the Wangdue Phodrang District in central Bhutan. The Monastery, also known by the Gangten village that surrounds it, is in the Phobjika Valley where winter visitors – the Black-necked Cranes – visit central Bhutan to roost, circling the monastery three times on arrival and repeating this circling when returning to Tibet. The Monastery’s history traces to the early 17th century and back to the prophecies made by the well-known Terton Pema Lingpa in the late 15th century.

The Monastery is one of the main seats of the religious tradition based on Pema Lingpa’s revelations and one of the two main centres of the Nyingmapa school of Buddhism in the country.

The Gangteng Monastery
The Phobjikha Valley (also spelt Phobjikha and, in the past, Phubjikha, the suffix kha means valley in Dzongka) is a vast U-shaped glacial valley, also known as Gangteng Valley named after the impressive Gangteng Monastery of the Nyingma sect in central Bhutan, where the graceful Black-necked Cranes in Bhutan (Grus nigricollis) from the Tibetan Plateau visit the valley during the winter season to roost. On arrival in the Phobjikha Valley in the last week of October, the Black-necked Cranes circle the Gangteng Monastery three times and also repeat the process while returning to Tibet.

Cheri Monastery
Cheri Monastery also called Chagri Dorjeden Monastery was established in 1620 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal; the first monastery established by him at a young age of 27. Zhabdrung spent three years in strict retreat at Chagri and resided there for many periods throughout the rest of his life. It was at Chagri in 1623 that he established the first Drukpa Kagyu monastic order in Bhutan. The monastery, which is now a major teaching and retreat centre of the Southern Drukpa Kagyu order, is located at the northern end of Thimphu Valley, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the capital. It sits on a hill above the end of the road at Dodeyna and it takes about an hour’s walk up the steep hill to reach the monastery from there. According to Bhutanese religious histories, the place was first visited by Padmasambhava in the 8th century. In the 13th century, it was visited by Phajo Drugom Zhigpo, the Tibetan Lama who first established the Drukpa Kagyu tradition in Bhutan. There is a silver chorten inside the monastery that enshrines the ashes of Zhabdrung’s father.

Buddha Dordenma
The Buddha Dordenma is a bronze statue, a ‘Vajra Throne’ Buddha, that is under construction amidst the ruins of Kuensel Phodrang, overlooking Thimphu city, about 100 metres (330 ft) above the Wang Chuu river bed. This location was the palace of Sherab Wangchuck, the 13th Desi Druk. It is a gigantic Shakyamuni Buddha statue under construction. The statue will house over one lakh (one hundred thousand) smaller Buddha statues, each of which, like the Buddha Dordenma itself, will be made of bronze and gilded in gold. Upon completion, it will be one of the largest Buddha rupas in the world, at a height of 51.5 metres (169 ft). The statue alone is being built at a cost of US$47 million, by Aerosun Corporation of Nanjing, China, while the total cost of the Buddha Dordenma Project is well over US$100 million. The interior will accommodate 100,000 8-inch-tall and 25,000 12-inch-tall gilded Buddhas respectively. It is planned to be completed by October 2010. Apart from commemorating the centennial of the Bhutanese monarchy, it fulfils two prophecies. In the 20th century, the renowned yogi Sonam Zangpo prophesied that a large statue of either Padmasambhava, Buddha or of a phurba would be built in the region “to bestow blessings, peace and happiness on the whole world”. Additionally the statue is mentioned in the ancient terma of Guru Padmasambhava himself, said to date from approximately the 8th century, and recovered some 800 years ago by terton Pema Lingpa.