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| Half way to Ombha Nye |
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| Ombha Nye |
It was 5th September 2014, the trip was organized by NBC,
Bhutan (National Biodiversity Center) was the first researcher team made to
Ombha Nye, Tashiyangtse under Tedtsoe Geog. The Team was lead by Dy. Chief
of NBC, Bhutan Mr. Rinchen Dorji and followed by Mr. Rinzin Choney from Wengkhar, Research Center in Mongar, as most of the Team was first visit to Ombha Nye.
Having begun our day started from Kheney Geog Center, the journey started with
good objective, prayers and hope whereby it also turned out to be a productive
trip.
The long journey seemed so exhausting and tiresome. Our feet thump
bravely through rocky deciduous forest mostly covered with different species of
trees. Several times, I toss and turn, trapped in the kind of nightmares that
make us hot while the distant river or some primal drum beats a constant rhythm
to a fitful dream. And before we made to the topmost Temple, Caretaker guided
us and took us for explanations about the Temple.
It says the letter “Om” is located in Ombha Ney, which means the
sacred place of hidden “Om” in Tashiyangtse. It is a legendary place since 8th century where Guru Rinpoche visited Bhutan to subdue the demons
and spread Buddha Dharma. It is one of the many places in Bhutan which is
blessed and considered a sacred site because Bhutanese believes that there is
not even a horse’s hoof size land area in Bhutan where Guru Rinpoche did not
visit to bless. Ombha Ney is one of the many unexplored Nyes in Bhutan due to
inaccessibility.
It is said that Guru Rinpoche has kept his prophecy for the wellbeing of the future sentient beings during different materialistic times by blessing three most sacred religious sites based on the three letters of his Dharma. They are ‘Om’, ‘Aa’ and ‘hung’.
The letter ‘Om’ which means wisdom body is located in Teodtso Gewog
under Tashi Yangtse Dzongkhag, ‘Aa’ (Wisdom Speech) is located in Aaja in
Sherimuhung in Mongar Dzongkhag and ‘Hung’(Wisdom Mind) can be seen at Hungdrel
in Paro Dzongkhag. According to a legendary, those three places are so
connected spiritually and are equally sacred and blessed at the same time by
Guru Rinpoche though we can only view them at very different places far from
each other.
The trip was perhaps 36 kilometers from Tashigang till a place called
Tsangpochen in Tashi Yangtse. From Duksum( place where three trails meet)
,Tsangpochen is a 45 minute drive and from there no motor able road and
then we had to walk for about 2-3 hours towards places named Sep and Jangphutse
village through a narrow and gentle sloped route without much climbing. After
passing by some villages there, we were at Ombha village and the Nye place was
just a fifteen minutes climb up the hill. Once at Ombha Nye, a lhakhang and
statue of Guru Rinpoche greet the eyes. The traditional architectural
structural where hovering on a solid rocky cliff. All the students were totally
exhausted but became energetic again after a delicate lunch at a homely place
there.
The Nye is huddled on a bottom of rocky mountain beneath
Jangphutse. Upon asking the koenyer(caretaker) he said the Om refers to the
wisdom body of Guru Rinpoche and that Ombha Nye was first revealed as a sacred
Nye by some descendants of Guru Choewang. It is believed that Guru Rinpoche
came to Ombha Nye following his vision which he professed in Monyuel Shao
Taktshang in Arunachel Pradesh. Guru Rinpoche as prophesied trailed to Ombha
Nye to subdue a snake demon that tormented people in Toedtsho. Later the
treasurer of Terton Pema Lingpa has also blessed the place and then his
granddaughter named Ani Choeten Zangmo also spent sometimes there in
meditation. So he said that it is a must for us to visit such place once in our
lifetime.
The place is made up of massive rock and the letter ‘Om’ can be actually viewed imprinted on the rock surface. Besides the holy inscriptions on the mountain, there were other sacred sites like Chortens on the rocks, hat, cave Guru Rinpoche meditated and walking stick, hand and footprints of Guru himself. It is believed that one can rinse away all the sins committed if we go through the narrow tracks inside the rocks there. According to legendary Guru Rinpoche blessed the place when he was in pursuit of Yong alias Geygnen Choephel guardian deity of Gomphu Kora. So today, it is believed that the local deity is residing there to protect every people and animal of that place. We came to know other sacred places nearby such as a place called ‘Gongza’ located at about few distance walk down from there. The name was actually known as ‘Gong Ja’ whereby Guru spent duration of having tea.
As the valley got into paddy cultivation and chilly gloominess, we
started and continued our Journey towards Jangphutse which is about half hour
walk from the Lakhang/Temple evening breeze of Yangtse Valley. The long tiring
day made everybody in bad condition when we reached to the Kheney Geog lately
but every step, every bead of sweat and every single discomfort we endured
purified our minds and rewarded manifold. Therefore, it was indeed an
enlightening, learning and adventurous trip was fabulously.
