Tamshing Lhakhang

Tamshing Lhakhang sits across the river from Kurjey in Bumthang, founded in 1501 by Pema Lingpa, the treasure revealer whose descendants include Bhutan's royal line, and finished in 1505. It is the most important Nyingma temple in the country.

Its wall paintings are the reason to come: among the few in Bhutan surviving close to their original early 16th century state, with parts attributed to Pema Lingpa himself, who recorded in his autobiography what he wanted them to show. He was also a blacksmith, and a coat of iron chain mail he made hangs inside. Pilgrims carry it three times around the shrine, which is said to clear the defilements of a lifetime. It is heavier than it looks.