Chimi Lhakhang -Treasures of Drukpa Kunley Traditional Cache
Chimi Lhakhang -Treasures of Drukpa Kunley
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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"I tried all virtues - they are illusions.
All the gods, they are the emptiness of the mind.
As a Mantra, I chose words with and without meaning, there is no difference.
Women and wine are my meditation.
I do whatever I want and roam the emptiness"
Drukpa Kunley
One of the most popular figures in Bhutan is Drukpa Kunley, the "divine madman" (1455-1529), and every child knows the stories of his excentric life.
Some of them are painted like a comic strip on the wall at the entrance to the temple - let your guide explain them to you, he might get red.
At Chimi Lhakhang near Punakha he subdued a demoness in the shape of a dog that had haunted the Dochu la and buried her under the stupa with the black painted base.
Drukpa Kunley was one of those unorthodox and subversive tantric teachers who constantly broke the rules of convention and "everyday morals" to lead his followers in a sort of shock therapy into the spiritual dimension behind the accepted and fixed rules and religious rituals.
He loved wine, women and song, and the symbol of the phallus, that can be seen on many houses in Bhutan (and in the shops near the temple ;) is also connected to Drukpa Kunley.
This symbol is nothing indecent in Bhutan - when a new house is blessed in a serious ceremony, they hang a carved wooden penis at each corner of the roof to keep away evil spirits.
Drukpa Kunleys always practiced sexuality as a part of his teachings, as a kind of initiatory event - maybe this is why childless women visit the temple to be blessed with the iron bow and arrows, the scriptures and the phallus of Drukpa Kunley, the symbolic representation of fertility.
They give this blessing also to foreign visitors, so mind your head ;))
I had great difficulties to get exact coordinates, so please follow the description.
If anyone provides better coordinates, I will be glad to improve the listing.
Update 19.Nov.2014:
Thanks to bobf the cache has been moved about 38m from the original hiding spot at the temple.
It's not as scenic, but hopefully safer and more remote from the crowded and sacred area.
The cache is a PET-tube inside the upper right corner of the gates at the coordinates.
Please look at the new spoiler picture!
Many thanks to bobf (13.11.2014) and peter-tvm (29.102016) for helping to keep the cache at this beautiful place - cachers around the world should help each other!
BE CAREFUL - THIS PLACE IS VERY BUSY AT TIMES!
Small note on cache maintenance:
There is a local cache guardian who will assist.
Name and contact info on file with geocaching.com.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Frr fcbvyre cvpgherf!
[If the container is gone, your replacement will be very appreciated - thank you!]
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
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