Nabji Lakhang Drup (26th to 27th December 2023)

This is a festival performed in Nabji village of Trongsa. The village of Nabji in Jigme Singye Wangchuk National Park is the legendary site where Tantric master Guru Padmasambhava made peace between warring kings in the 8th century.
The festival is held in honour of Guru Rinpoche considered the second Buddha who reinforced Buddhism in Bhutan. The highlights of the festival are the “Mewang” the fire blessing ceremonies and the “Thercham” the naked spiritual dances. During the fire blessing local run underneath a gigant flaming gate made out of dry grasses with amber and piles of burning grasses falling on their head. The other event “Tercham” (literaly translated as Dance of Treasure) is performed by naked dancer wearing facial masks. Locals beleive that the Thercham bless the infertile women with children, and it is only performed at night around a bonfire. A variety of traditional mask dances each bearing a significance importance follows after the main events and all these sacred dances are thought to be composed by Terton Pema Lingpa, the great treasure discover of the 15th century. This trip allows visitors a complete Bhutan experience as it combines this spectacular festival with a piloted community-based tourism trek and other cultural hotspots of Bhutan.

See our departure for Nabji Lakhang Drup in Bhutan