MY FIRST MISSION TO BHUTAN
some years ago, and contains a very large image of Guru Rimpochi, and is called Guru Lhakhang. Close alongside is the smaller one, called Kuje Lhakhang, built on the rock itself, which forms the back wall. On the rock inside the temple is the impression of Guru Rimpochi's back as he sat leaning against it, and also of his “bumpu,” or holy water bottle, which he happened to be holding up. Outside on the rock is a very fine Tsenden, or weeping cypress, which the legend relates was the Guru’s staff, which he had stuck in the earth, when it immediately took root and grows to this day.
On the way back we were shown the site of the Sindhu Raja’s house, now in ruins, situated on the edge of a high bluff overhanging the river. It appears to have been a square of sixty or seventy feet, and the wall apartments could not have been very wide, as there seems to have been an open space in the centre, unless this again was covered in by a floor above, in which case the building would have been an exact counterpart of the central towers we now find in every Jong. Surrounding the sides, on the level, was a well-defined ditch, with a continuation on the outer side leading to the river, and also a well-defined path. Tradition states there was also a gate at the opposite corner to the south. The Penlop has lent me a book of old stories in which there is a glowing description of the old house. On a low hill across the plain the spot was pointed out where the Raja’s son was killed fighting against the Naguchi Raja, who lived in the Duars, below Wandipore, and also seems to have reigned in or near the plains. The Guru Rimpochi had heard of the constant wars between the two chiefs, and had come expressly to bring about peace. On his arrival he found the Sindhu Raja prostrate with grief at the loss of his son, and comforting him, and nursing him back to health, he persuaded him to come to terms with his rival. Before his departure, however, he prophesied that in the near future his kingdom would vanish, and not a stone of his palace would remain standing,
167
