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Photo: Christopher J. Fynn, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
One of Bhutan's holiest monasteries, Kurje Lhakhang preserves a body imprint of Guru Rinpoche in a cave around which the oldest of its three buildings is constructed. The initial structure was built in 1652 by the Trongsa Penlop, while a more recent addition was made by the late Queen Mother Ashi Kesang Wangchuck in 1990. A massive cypress tree, possibly a descendant of the original, grows above the building and is believed to have sprung from Guru Rinpoche’s walking stick.
Kurjey Lhakhang,སྐུ་རྗེས་ ཡང་ན་ གུ་རུ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་གི་ ཞབས་རྗེས་ also known as the Kurjey Monastery, is located in the Bumthang valley in the Bumthang district of Bhutan. This is the final resting place of the remains of the first three Kings of Bhutan. Also, a large tree behind one of the temple buildings is believed to be a terma that was left there by Padmasambhava.
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The fortress was constructed in 1667, but rebuilt after being severely damaged in an earthquake in 1897. It is one of the largest and most impressive dzongs in Bhutan and houses the administrative and monastic offices for the Bumthang district.
Burning Lake
The place where the 15th century Bhutanese spiritual-treasure discoverer Pema Lingpa famously dived into a river gully with a burning lamp, and later returned with a number of hidden scriptural treasures (Tib:terma) and with the lamp still burning – hence the name of the site, Membartsho - Burning Lake.