Aja Nye, East Bhutan : Guru Rinpoche Power Place

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Thirteen centuries after Guru Rinpoche made the above
prophecy, a sacred nye (gnas) of Aja in Mongar still holds a
mystical attraction for many Bhutanese pilgrims.

This sacred nye is attributed to Guru Rinpoche who brought
tantric Buddhism to Bhutan. Located in the extreme north of
Serzhong Geog at an altitude of more than 3,500 meters, it is
a three-day walk from Mongar Dzong. Aja means hundred
numbers of alphabet "Aa" which appeared on a rock surface.
The gorges and mountains in the areas are dotted with nyes.
The history of Aja Nye dates back to 850 AD. According to the
legend, Guru Rinpoche knew that an exiled demon Tibetan
king, Khikharathoed, was trying to settle in Aja. Guru
traveled through Tormijangsa by crossing several gorges and
mountains to reach Aja. Before that Guru had chased away
another demon (dud) from Tibet and subdued it at the
present Gomphu Kora Nye in Tashiyangtse. At the site, Guru
Rinpoche subdued many local dud and evil spirits but found
it difficult to subjugate Khikharathoed. According to religious
interpretation, Khikharathoed escaped the wrath of Guru and
moved to Khempajong in Lhuntse where he established his
demon kingdom.

It is believed that Guru Rinpoche spent more than three
months hiding sacred nye to be rediscovered in the future.
Among several sacred sites, the most popular one is a small
cave on the bank of Ajachhu where Guru Rinpoche meditated
for three months. After the meditation, he left a white imprint
of the letter Aa on the reddish-brown rock in the cave as a
proof of his attainment of perfection. Thus, the cave derived
its name Aja from the 100 Aa imprinted on the inner wall of
the cave. According to Lam Kezang Chophel of Zorig Chusum
Institute, Tashiyangtsi, who has conducted an extensive
research on Aja Nye, not all letters are visible today, except
for those bold imprints.

Spring water near Ajachhu is believed to have curative value.
People frequently bathe in the pungent smelling medicinal
water (menchu) for curative purposes. It is believed to have a
curative effect on 18 types of diseases such as tuberculosis,
body pain, ulcer, and whooping cough. In the same vicinity
there is another stream called Awachhu falling from a cliff.
Legend has it that the stream started falling after Guru
Rimpoche implanted his walking stick on the rock. The
stream forms a pool on a rock basin, where Guru is believed
to have taken a bath. The pool can accommodate nine people
and person is cleansed by taking a bath. It is warm in winter
and cool in summer. A kind of grass locally called Tsa Awa
Doti grows in the area. The grass planted by Guru is
considered sacred with medicinal values.

The place holds a host of other religious sites and symbols.
They include the imprints of Guru's feet, body, and seat,
prints symbolizing subjugation of the evils, Khando Dowa
Zangmo's foot prints, 108 retreat caves of Guru Rinpoche,
and foot prints of Lam Karma Jamyang who discovered the
hidden sacred sites. They are located in mountains, bamboo
groves, meadows, gorges, and dense forest. The entire
pilgrimage to Aja would take a week to complete.
The sacred sites in Aja comprise of four clusters: Tsekor,
Barkor, Nagkor and Rongkor. It is a tiresome and endless
endeavour to reach all sites; and seeing and feeling of these
sites strengthen one’s beliefs in dwelling places of deities,
sacred mountains, meditation caves, holy waters, body and
foot prints of great saints, places of gods, abodes of dead and
the meandering Shelrichhu protected by Lumo Tagdongma.

According to a research conducted by Lam Kezang, the door
to Aja was initially opened by Terton Ugyen Lingpa around
14th century. He constructed a monastery at Pema
Yangdzong, which today is in ruins. Terton Ugyen Lingpa was
followed by another great luminary from Tibet called Terton
Rigzin Goeki Dhemthrug. The Ninth Karampa Roelpai Dorji
followed him.

Guru Rinpoche had actually prophesized that
the nye would be discovered by the Ninth Karmapa. Old age,
however, had deterred him from carrying out the task and he
had instead sent his disciple Lam Karma Jamyang, the
incarnation of Jetsuen Jampelyang, to reveal the nye. Lam
Karma Jamyang re-opened the sacred path for pilgrims
according to the instruction of his root guru, Karampa
Roelpai Dorji.

Lam Karma Jamyang travelled through Tashiyangtse from
Tibet and reached Tagmolung. There he could not establish a
base to begin his task of discovering the nye after he had lost
his way in the dense forest. That night a tiger approached the
helpless lama, made three rounds around him, growled, and
disappeared. Taking it as an auspicious sign, the lama
followed the tiger's footprints the next day and reached a
place called Dechenphodrang. The tiger appeared again that
night and growled in four directions, leaping three times. The
lama then established his base in Dechenphodrang and
discovered all nyes following the tiger's foot prints. Therefore,
the popular Aja is also known as Takdong Nye.

Funyingla is considered as the heart of all the nye in the area
and if any pilgrim fails to visit it the pilgrimage is considered
incomplete. This place is a day-long walk from Aja and
houses various religious sites attributed to Guru Rinpoche.
Located at an altitude of 4,500 meters, it is also a meditation
centre for Bhutanese lamas. As one climbs higher, the
vegetations turn to alpine Rhododendron, Balu Sulu, ferns,
bamboos, daphne, maples and other medicinal shrubs
infested with leeches and ticks.

The effort of the Mongar Dzongkhag Administration and the
local communities is fast making Aja as a popular site for
pilgrimage. In 2001 the community of Sheri Mukhung has
improved and widened the mule track from the point of a 10-
kilometre Yadi-Serzhong feeder road leading to Aja Nye. From
there one should start walking uphill to Serzhong village for
the first night halt. The next day is an uphill walk to Yarab
and the third day will take you to Aja. Two guest houses in
Yarab and Aja were constructed by the local people for the
benefit of the visitors and the pilgrims. The best season to
visit Aja Nye is between April and October. Some people visit
between November to January as long as there is no snow. An
estimated 700 pilgrims visit the sacred site every year.

It is believed that visits to such sacred places will purify one's
mind and rinse the negative actions committed by body. It is
also believed that merit resulting from one chant of mantra of
Guru Rinpoche or Chenreze in Aja is equivalent to chanting
thousand times in other places. If one erects a triangular
stone in Aja, it is also equivalent to constructing a chhoeten
in other places. Therefore, it is obligatory to visit the place
once in lifetime when one has the means. The ultimate result
will lead to the eternal satisfaction of individuals and the
perpetual wellbeing of all sentient beings. There are also three
routes connecting Aja from Mongar, Lhuentse and
Trashiyangtse.

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