YESHI GONPO'S WRATH

Bhutan is a small independent nation, fiercely protected by deities of all magnitude and prowess. Deities hold a special place in the Bhutanese value system and greatly shapes the Bhutanese outlook of life and living. There are many stories and anecdotes of human encounters and experience with deities. 

To give you all a little context; I grew up in a little hamlet called Tekarshong, a hilltop village overseeing the whole Jakar valley of Bumthang. Before I got enrolled to the nearby school at 7 years of age. I spent better part of my days with my great paternal grandfather, Mimi Nado. 

I have a very fond memory of Mimi Nado. Every night his folk tales would lull me to sleep. One story he told me was about a certain group of people who mistreated the local people and faced the wrath of the deity. 

Mimi Nado was a skilled bamboo basket weaver and a highly regarded Champoen or Dance Master of Tamshing Phala Chodpa; an annual festival that takes place in September. 

The festival was started way back in the 15th century and the dances were choreographed by Tertoen Pema Lingpa himself. Thereby, the festival and it's mask dances were considered very sacred and an integral part of be Bhutanese culture as a whole.

However, in the early 1900s, the Tamshing Phala Chodpa and the mask dances were declining due to lack of mask dancers. So, the government gathered a team of 3 Champoens (Dance Masters) from all around the country to teach the local people these mask dances.

However, the local people were farmers and cow herders. They grew up working in fields and running after cows. Due to the physically demanding nature of their profession, the farmers and cow herder's limbs were very muscular and stiff. This made it hard for the people to move their limbs nimbly as required for a good mask dance.

Try as the Champoens may, the local people cannot get their limbs to move nimbly enough to make a good mask dance. So, the Champoens, started hitting the arms and legs of the people hoping to make them move more fluidly.

For days on end, the local people were tortured. They would be whipped with a bamboo stick if they failed to move the way the Champoens wanted. The local people suffered for couple of days under the harsh mentorship of these government sent teachers.

Now, every valley in Bhutan has a local deity that protects the locality including the people. The main deity of Tamshing is Yeshi Gonpo, the chief protective deity of Bhutan. 

One day, as these teachers were taking a nap in the afternoon; all three of them had a terrifying dream, that felt way too real to be a dream. In their dream, they saw a man adorned in black silken gho, wearing a black wide rimmed hat; in his right hand was a long black whip and in his left hand, a bamboo stick. The man walked menacingly towards them and began to whip and beat them with the stick. 

The Champoens woke up, sore and sweaty. They right away knew that, this was Yeshi Gonpo, warning them to treat his people better. That very day, they all went to offer serkem (alcohol offering) in the sacred chamber of Yeshi Gonpo to ask for his forgiveness. Since then, they hurriedly taught the people what they can and left the place without much of a result.