The Bumthang region encompasses four major valleys: Choskhor, Tang, Ura and Chhume. Because the dzongs and the most important temples are in the large Choskhor valley, it is commonly referred to as the Bumthang valley.

There are two versions of the origin of the name Bumthang. The valley is supposed to be shaped like a bumpa, the vessel that contains holy water and is usually found on the altar of an Lhakhang. Thang means 'field' or 'flat place'. The less respectful transla­tion relates to the particularly beautiful women who live here - bum means 'girl'.

It is too high to grow rice here. Instead, large fields of buckwheat cover the valley, and so buckwheat noodles and pancakes are a Bumthang specialty. The Bumthang Chhu is famous for its large stock of trout, and de­spite the Buddhist reluctance to take life; fish do mysteriously appear on dinner plates.

Jakar Dzong - According to legend, when the lamas as­sembled in about 1549 to select a site for a monastery, a big white bird rose suddenly in the air and settled on a spur of a hill. This was interpreted as an important omen, and the hill was chosen as the site for a monastery named as Jakar Dzong, which roughly translates as "castle of the white bird'.

Jakar Dzong is in a picturesque location overlooking the Choskhor valley. The current structure was built in 1667 and is said to be the largest dzong in Bhutan, with a circumference of more than 1500m. Its official name is Yuelay Namgyal Dzong, in honor of the victory over the troops of Tibetan ruler Phuntsho Namgyal. The utse (central tower) is about 50m tall and is located on the outside wall, so there is no way to cir­cumambulate it other than by walking around the entire dzong. The paintings inside the dzong's Lhakhang feature Channa Dorje and the life of Milarepa.

The utse is on the east side of the courtyard, and beyond that, is the monks' quarters and the district court. The rabdey from Trongsa moves here in the summer; there is only a small group of care­taker monks during the winter. When the monks arrive, they perform a ceremony commemorating the defeat of the Tibetan invaders from Lhobrak in 1644.

Wangdichholing Palace - The extensive palace of Wangdichholing was built in 1857 on the site of a battle camp of the penlop of Trongsa, Jigme Namgyal. It was the first palace in Bhutan that was not designed as a fortress. Namgyal's son, King Ugyen Wangchuck, chose it as his principal residence. It was used throughout his reign and also during the reign of the second king. The entire court moved from Wangdichhol­ing to Kuenga Rabten each winter in a pro­cession that look three days. Wangdichholing was the early home of the third king, who moved the court to Punakha in 1952.

Wangdichholing is no longer used and is not open to the public. The only inhabitants of the palace are a few caretakers who maintain Jigme Namgyal's chapel atop the utse. There are five giant water-driven prayer wheels inside square chortens as you approach the gates of the palace.

Jampa Lhakhang - It is believed to have been built in the year 659, on the same day as Kyichu Lhakhang in Paro built by the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo. The central fig­ure in the lhakhang is Jampa, the Buddha of the Future. The statue is protected by an iron chain mail that was made by Pema Lingpa.

The temple was visited by Guru Rin­poche during his visit to Bumthang and was renovated by the Sindhu Raja after the Guru restored his life force. It has been repaired several times, and a golden roof built over time by various penlops of Trongsa. When Ugyen Wangchuck was penlop, he added the temple of Dus-Kyi-khorlo, which is within the enclosed compound on the north­ern side of the dochey (inner courtyard).

The building in the centre of the courtyard has a thousand butter lamps. Inside the primary chapel are three stone steps representing ages. The first signifies the past, the age of the historical Buddha, Sakyamuni. This step has descended into the ground and is covered with a wooden plank. The next age is the present, and its step is level with the floor. The top step represents a new age. It is believed that when the step representing the present age sinks to ground level, the gods will be­come like humans and the world as it is now will end.

It is said that under the lhakhang there is a lake in which Guru Rinpoche hid several terma. Look up into an alcove above the front door to see a statue of the Guru. He sat in this alcove and meditated, leaving be­hind a footprint.

Each October one of the most spectacu­lar festivals in Bhutan, the Jampa Lhakhang Drup, is staged here. On one evening, after the lama dances, the monastery is lit by a fire dance to bless infertile women so that they may bear children.

Kurjey Lhakhang - This lhakhang is named after the body print of Guru Rinpoche, which is preserved in a cave inside the old­est of the three buildings that make up the temple complex. It is at the end of the paved road, 7km from Chakhar Lhakhang, at an elevation of 2640m.

There are three large lhakhangs against a hillside on the right. The first temple is the oldest and was built in 1652 by Mingyur Tenpa when he was penlop of Trongsa. Protruding below the roof is a figure of a white lion with a garuda above it, which represents the famous strug­gle between Guru Rinpoche (appearing as the garuda) and the local demon, Shelging Karpo (as the white lion). At the entrance to the lower-floor sanctuary is a small crawl-through rock passage; Bhutanese believe that in crawling through a nar­row tunnel like this you will leave your sins behind. The lower-floor sanctuary has statues of the past, present and future Buddhas, while the far wall has paintings of gods who represent riches and wealth.

The upper-floor sanctuary is the holiest at the complex, and has an image of Shelging Karpo inside the door. There are a thousand small statues of Guru Rinpoche neatly lined up along the same wall, plus three larger statues. The main statue in this sanctuary is again of Guru Rinpoche, flanked by his eight manifestations. Hidden behind this image is the meditation cave where he left his body imprint. The far wall has paintings of Guru Rinpoche, his manifestations, his 25 disciples and various other figures con­nected with the Guru. The big cypress tree behind the lhakhang is said to have grown from the Guru's walking stick.

Ugyen Wangchuck, the first king of Bhutan, built the second temple, Sampa Lhundrup Lhakhang, in 1900, when he was still penlop of Trongsa. On the entrance porch of the temple are paintings of the guardians of the four directions and of vari­ous local deities who were converted to Buddhism by Guru Rinpoche at the same time as Shelging Karpo. The white ghostlike figure on the white horse is Shelging Karpo. Inside the temple is a statue of Guru Rin­poche, this one 10m high, flanked again by his eight manifestations.

The third building in the complex is an elaborate three-storey lhakhang built by the queen mother, Ashi Kesang Wangchuck, in 1984 under the guidance of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. She also had the courtyard in front of the three temples paved with stones and built a wall with 108 chortens around the whole complex. On the porch in front of the temple is a large wheel of life depicting various hells and heavens. There's a beautiful mystic spiral mandala on the opposite wall and paintings of the guardians of the four directions in the hallway. The inside is elaborately decorated, and contains huge statues of wrathful deities, including Palchen Heruka and life-size statues of the Shabdrung and the fourth desi, Gyalse Tenzin Rabgye.

Two gigantic lhadhars (prayer flags) and a chorten dominate the centre of the court­yard. These mark the cremation sites of the first three kings of Bhutan.

Tamshing Goemba - This goemba (also known as Tamshing Lhendup Chholing, literally 'Temple of the Good Message') is 5km from Jakar. It was established in 1501 by Pema Lingpa and is the most important Nyingma goemba in the kingdom. Pema Lingpa built the structure himself, with the help of khandroms (female celestial beings) who made many of the statues. On the inner walls are what are believed to be original unrestored images that were painted by Pema Lingpa, though recent research has uncovered even older paintings beneath them.

The main lhakhang has an unusual design with the key chapel in the centre of the assembly hall, almost like a separate building. In the front part of the hall are three thrones for the three incarnations (body, mind and speech) of Pema Lingpa.

The upper floor forms a balcony around the assembly hall. Pema Lingpa was a short man and it is said that he built the low ceiling of the balcony to his exact height. Around the outside are 100,000 old paint­ings of Sakyamuni. In the upper chapel is a statue of Tshepamey, the Buddha of Long Life, and a large collection of masks that are used for lama dances. On the walls are paintings of Guru Rinpoche's eight mani­festations, four on each side.

In the inner sanctuary the primary statue is of Guru Rinpoche. On his right is Jampa (Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future) and on the guru's left is Sakyamuni. The statue here of Guru Rinpoche is particularly important because it was sculpted by the khandroms. The statue's eyes are looking upward, fol­lowing the angels in their flight; another unique aspect of the statue is that the Guru is not wearing shoes. Above the altar are two crocodiles and a garuda. On the walls are paintings of the eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche, four on each side.

Konchogsum Lhakhang - A short distance below Tamshing is a small rural-looking temple - the source of many interesting stories. It was renovated in 1995 and looks quite new, but it is in fact very old, proba­bly dating back to the 6th or 7th century. The current structure, however, dates from the 15th century, when Pema Lingpa re­stored it.

There is a pedestal in the courtyard upon which a large and ancient bell used to sit. It is said that when this bell was rung, it could be heard all the way to Lhasa in Tibet. A 17th-century Tibetan army tried to steal the bell, but the weight was too great and they dropped it, which cracked the bell. It is said to comprise 10% gold, 20% silver, 50% bronze and 20% tin. After a period on dis­play in the National Museum in Paro, it is now back inside the lhakhang.

The small statues of the three Buddhas (past, present and future) in the sanctuary are said to have flown here straight from Khaine Lhakhang in Kurtoe. Hence the name of this lhakhang is Konchogsum - konchog (divine being), sum (three).

The central figure in the lhakhang is Vairocana (also known as Namnang, the Dhyani Buddha of vast space). On Vairocana's left is Chenresig, and to the right is Guru Rinpoche. Other statues are Pema Lingpa and Longchempa, a great Nyingma scholar, on the far right.