Serlung Monastery
Serlung Pekar Choeling Buddhist Institute, also known as Silung Goenpa, is a 600-year-old monastery in Dawakha, Paro, Bhutan. The Goenpa is a seat of Thang Thong Gyalpo, also known as The Bridge Builder. Gyalpo was a legendary to construct first suspension bridges using iron chains. He built a total of 58 bridges across Tibet and Bhutan.
The monastery is also known for its lake, which is believed to be sacred. A ritual is held every three years near the lake led by a female shaman.
The monastery was handed over to the Dratshang Lhentshog by the public in 2005. Her Majesty the Royal Grandmother, Ashi Kesang Choeden Wangchuck funded a thongdrel for the monastery in 2015, which took one year to complete.
The monastery housed just 16 monks in 2015 but has since been expanded. Tshogki lopen Sangay Khandu and Khepo Karma Loday donated Nu 160 million for construction of a four-storey multipurpose hall, which was consecrated in October, 2023, by the Je Khenpo.
Since 2018, it has been used as a summer residence for the pasakha monks and monastery was established as a Goenzin Dratshang. At that time, the principal of the monastery was Kuenzang Tobgay Namgyel, who was the first principal of Goenzin Dratshang. There were other heads before that, but the monastery was not a Goenzin Dratshang until then.
The old Tshokhang could house only 60 monks which is why a new Tshokhang was constructed. Hostels around the Tshokhang are still under construction. On the ground floor, in the Great Hall, the main sacred relic is CHOE -LONG -TRUEL-SUM. The first floor has a library, study room and offices, the second floor has rooms for teachers and senior monks. The third floor is a Dolma altar. Currently there are 250 monks including teachers at the institute.
In 2023, the World Wildlife Fund in collaboration with Tarayana Foundation, funded a Nu 1.3 million project to provide water to around 254 households in the Dawakha gewog, as well as Serlung Monastery, providing them with clean drinking water on tap.
History
The Serlung Monastery was established in 2018 as a Goenzin Dratshang. His Holiness the Je Khenpo renamed the monastery as Serlung Goenzin Dhuedhay Lungtog Choeling Dratshang in 2023.The monastery took its name, Serlung, from the sacred lake located near the temple. The people living in the area faced hard times since they didn’t have rain during their cultivation. There were two lakes with two nymphs at Hoshala, which is located about 12 km from the monastery. People believed that defiling the lake could bring rain, so the villagers started throwing dead bodies into the lake. The mother and daughter nymphs could not live at Hoshala Lake anymore because people had polluted their residence. So, they planned to move to Dagkala. However, the daughter could not move to Dagkala because she had a pain on her leg during the journey. The mother advised the daughter to stay and serve as the protector of the Dharma. She left her Sergi Alung, making the place known as Serlung Goenpa.