Lama Drukpa Kuenley travelled extensively in western and central Bhutan to liberate sentient beings from the darkness, tame the untamed and subjugated the evils with the wrath of his vajra (Thundrbolt). His popularity is not only confined, hidden and his stories embedded in the soil of the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, but the mountain echoes has spread far across the seas, oceans and the islands through which he is known to the western world by the name Divine Madman. We would portray him for his obscene behaviour, where he would be after the best wine and then, dines with the beautiful girls but, within his spiritual path he has his own mission to accomplish.
One day, he took up the challenge to knock down the demonesses at Dochula, who took toll of lives of the people passing by the place at the break of dusk. When they encountered him, they couldn’t face the wrath of his simplicity and they ran away. He subdued two of them on the way, and chased the third one to the place where the temple stands tall on the hilltop today and the place that resembles like the breast of a woman. It was at break of the dawn when they reached the place and the demoness turned herself into a dog. Lama subdued the dog and buried it under the earth and built a black stupa, it/stupa can be seen today at the side of the temple. And he gave a prophecy that a temple would built here in the coming times. Thus, the name was given as Chi-Mi Lhakhang, in its loose translation meaning, “Temple of No Dog”.
Another account recalls that when the demoness reached the site, she turned into a one hundred thousand dog and ultimately to one before she was subdue by the lama. Thus, the temple is also known as Chi-Bum Lhakhang meaning the “Temple of One Hundred Thousand Dog”. The story of taming the demoness is only a drop of water that has been poured in the vast ocean stories of Lama Drukpa Kuenley.
In the contemporary times, the temple is best known for the “Temple of Fertility”. A wooden effigy of the Phallus is preserved in the Lhakhang, and many women go to the temple to receive blessing from the Phallus. The blessing from the phallus is considered sacred especially to barren women as it brings fertility to women and bears those offspring and even the people from other countries visit and pay respect to the temple to gain fertility to have offspring. The testimonial of truth stands before your own eyes, there is a photo album maintained of the Bhutanese and foreigners with their newly born child.
If you are yearning for a child and had spent your days longing for a baby, then I would advise you to visit the temple, pay your respect and invoke sincere blessings from the Lama. Otherwise, visiting the temple as per your scheduled itinerary won’t fill your wombs; if you get conceived unknowingly despite being childless for longer period of time, I am sure that the father of your child won’t be your husband.
Lama Drukpa Kuenley used his phallus as a ‘medium’ to subdue and discipline the malevolent spirits. The use of phallus was also intended to free up the social inhibitions enforced by the socially established values. This is a brief introduction of the temple and Lama Drukpa Kuenley to make sure that who don’t get lost when you hear the story next time from the horse’s mouth if you are here in Bhutan.