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Menchu of Menchuna: A Hidden Gem in Tobesa, Punakha

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Nestled in the serene village of Menchuna, Tobesa, Punakha, lies the mysterious and historical site of Menchu. As its toponym may suggest, Menchuna is a place where tradition and nature intertwine in fascinating ways. Once renowned for its medicinal hot springs, Menchu has a story that reflects both the resilience of its people and the enduring allure of its natural gifts. Here’s a journey into the intriguing tale of Menchu and its place in the heart of Bhutan. The Legacy of Menchu: A Once-Prominent Hot Spring Menchu was once celebrated as a revered hot spring, its waters believed to hold remarkable healing power with medicinal as well mineral properties. For centuries, the people of Bhutan trekked to Menchuna, as it is ideally situated near traditional Punakha-Thimphu trek trail. The hot springs, with their mineral-rich waters, were a vital source of therapeutic relief, providing solace and healing to countless visitors. The Struggle and the Change However, as is often the case with p

The Divine Stones of Singay Thang ༼སེང་གེ་ཐང་གི་གནས་རྡོ༽

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རྟ་ཕག་མགོན་པ། Two hours to the  north of Trongsa Chhoekhor Rabtentse Dzong, Tafa Goenpa  ༼རྟ་ཕག་དགོན་པ༽  is renowned meditation centre for Trongsa Rabdey. As we have etymologies for most names of the places, the name of the meditation centre is derived from its religious significance attached with its topography. Since the whole ridge on which it is situated is holy site dedicated to and blessed by Hayagriva  ༼རྟ་མགྲིན༽  who is wrathful manifestation of Avalokiteshvara and Dakini Vajaravarahi  ༼རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕག་མོ༽  who is wrathful form of  ༼རྡོ་རྗེ་རྣལ་འབྱོར་མ༽ Vajrayogini, the place is named after their divine names. The Goenpa has her religious as well historical marvel to those who pursue the subject seriously but that is topic for another story. Top Edge of Singay Thang Around one and half hours north-west to Tafa Goenpa, walking past marshy land, bent rhododendron trees, and dwarf bamboo plants that may even hide our friends who is just a meter away among its leaves, an alpine meadow/g