Choedrak Monastery

At 3,800 metres on one of Guru Rinpoche's four sacred meditation cliffs in Bumthang, Choedrak Monastery clings to rock face above deep forest. Gyalwa Lorepa meditated here for twenty-two years in the twelfth century. Above the monastery, Longchenpa composed part of the Seven Treasures in a cave. The place remains what it has always been — a hermitage for those who come to practice in solitude and silence.

Choedrak belongs to a category of sacred site that does not invite casual visitation. It is one of four cliffs in the Bumthang Valley where Guru Rinpoche is said to have meditated, arriving by tradition on the back of a tigress. The cliff itself is the sacred object — not a building placed upon it but the rock face, the altitude, the exposure to sky and weather that makes this a place where the boundary between practitioner and element thins to nothing.

Gyalwa Lorepa found this cliff in the twelfth century and stayed for twenty-two years. His meditation was not an event but a condition — a sustained inhabitation of silence that left its mark on the place as surely as Guru Rinpoche's stone footprint, which remains in one of the chapels. Above the monastery, a cave holds the memory of Longchenpa, who composed part of the Seven Treasures here — some of the most important texts in the Nyingmapa tradition, written at the edge of habitable altitude.

The white structures that cluster against the cliff face today house chapels, a sacred chorten, and a spring. Monks still use the site for retreat. The monastery was rebuilt in the eighteenth century after an exorcism, and this pattern — of difficulty, clearing, and renewal — seems built into the site's character.

One of four sacred meditation cliffs of Guru Rinpoche in Bumthang. The hermitage was established by Gyalwa Lorepa in the twelfth century and has served practitioners seeking solitude ever since.

Guru Rinpoche is said to have arrived at this cliff riding a tigress, establishing it as one of four sacred meditation sites in the Bumthang landscape. Centuries later, Gyalwa Lorepa found the cliff and remained for twenty-two years in meditation. The great scholar Longchenpa later used a cave above the monastery to compose part of the Seven Treasures. In the eighteenth century, a demon was said to have made the site unapproachable until Ngawang Trinley from Siula performed an exorcism and rebuilt the monastery.

The site bridges two major lineages: the Drukpa Kagyu tradition through Gyalwa Lorepa's connection, and the Nyingmapa tradition through Guru Rinpoche's original consecration and Longchenpa's literary composition.

Choedrak's thinness is geological and atmospheric — the cliff itself, the altitude, and the centuries of solitary practice that have occurred against bare rock at the edge of human habitation.

The four sacred meditation cliffs of Guru Rinpoche in Bumthang function as a mandala across the landscape, each cliff anchoring a direction and a quality of practice. Choedrak is the cliff where solitude becomes absolute. At 3,800 metres, above the forest line, pressed against rock that drops away below and rises above, a practitioner here occupies a position where the usual supports of human life — shelter, company, warmth — are reduced to their minimum.

This reduction is the point. Gyalwa Lorepa's twenty-two years here were not an endurance test but an investigation into what remains when everything unnecessary is removed. Longchenpa's decision to compose the Seven Treasures at this altitude suggests that certain texts require certain conditions — that the clarity of high places and bare rock participates in the clarity of the teaching.

The spring that flows near the monastery adds a counterpoint to the austerity. Water, the minimum requirement for life, emerging from stone at nearly four thousand metres. The chapels, white against grey rock, hold their ground between sky and depth.

Sacred meditation cliff of Guru Rinpoche, later used by Gyalwa Lorepa for his extended twenty-two-year retreat.

The site moved from legendary association with Guru Rinpoche to active hermitage under Gyalwa Lorepa, to a period of inaccessibility when a demon was said to inhabit it, to rebuilding after Ngawang Trinley's eighteenth-century exorcism. This cycle of occupation, abandonment, and return characterizes hermitage sites across the Himalayan Buddhist world.

Choedrak is a hermitage for solitary meditation practice. The site is used by monks for extended retreats rather than public worship.

Extended solitary meditation retreat in the tradition of Gyalwa Lorepa. Veneration at the stone footprint of Guru Rinpoche. Meditation in the caves used by earlier practitioners.

The hermitage continues to serve monks undertaking periods of solitary retreat. The chapels are maintained by a small number of resident monks.

The journey to Choedrak is itself a practice. Walk slowly, attend to the forest, and allow the climb to quiet the mind before arriving. At the monastery, sit with the cliff at your back and the valley below. If the chapels are open, view the sacred objects with unhurried attention.

Reaching Choedrak requires a significant hike through deep forest and steep terrain. The white cliff-face structures emerge from a landscape of silence and altitude that has been shaped by centuries of solitary practice.

There are two approaches to Choedrak. The first begins at Tharpaling Monastery, thirty-seven kilometres from Chamkhar, and climbs steeply for about one hour. The second follows a three-hour trail through deep forest from Lamey Goenpa in the Choekhor Valley, crossing a pass. Both approaches demand physical effort and both accomplish the same thing — they separate the visitor from the ordinary world by increments of altitude and exertion.

The monastery appears as white structures against grey cliff. Two ancient chapels, a chorten, and a spring form the core of the complex. Inside the chapels, Guru Rinpoche's stone footprint and the skull of a celestial being are held as sacred objects. The Thukje Lhakhang houses a striking thousand-armed statue of Chenresig, the Buddha of Compassion. Above the monastery, Longchenpa's meditation cave and rock throne can be visited, though the additional climb requires care.

The quality of the place is one of exposure and shelter in equal measure — the cliff provides a wall, but the sky is immediate above and the valley drops far below. Sound carries differently at this altitude. The silence is not empty but pressurized, as though the air itself has been listening for centuries.

Start early. The hike demands attention and fitness. When you arrive, do not rush to the chapels. Sit first and let the altitude settle in your body. Visit the chapels slowly. If you climb to Longchenpa's cave, go carefully and take time to sit where he sat. The descent will feel different from the ascent — lighter, as though you have left something at the cliff.

Choedrak can be understood as a geological formation, a hermitage, or a node in the sacred geography of Bumthang — and in each reading, the cliff itself is the central presence.

The scholarly paper 'Spiritual and Spatial Significance of Choedrak Monastery in the Cultural Geography of Bhutan' situates the site within Bumthang's broader sacred landscape, arguing that the four cliffs of Guru Rinpoche function as a spatial mandala organizing the valley's spiritual geography. Longchenpa's composition of the Seven Treasures here provides textual evidence of the site's importance in the Nyingmapa intellectual tradition.

Within the Buddhist understanding, the four sacred cliffs anchor the enlightened activity of Guru Rinpoche in the Bumthang landscape. Each cliff holds a particular quality of spiritual power. Choedrak's quality is associated with solitude and the depth of prolonged practice — the twenty-two years of Gyalwa Lorepa serving as the measure of what this place asks of those who come to it.

The hermitage tradition represents an ecology of spiritual practice — certain locations offer conditions that support certain forms of inner work, and the relationship between practitioner and place is collaborative rather than incidental. Choedrak's altitude, exposure, and stone are not merely the backdrop for meditation but active participants in it.

The identity and nature of the demon that made the site inaccessible before Ngawang Trinley's exorcism remains a matter of tradition. Whether this represents a literal spiritual encounter or a metaphor for the site's deterioration and the difficulty of maintaining a hermitage at extreme altitude is a question that different perspectives answer differently.

A full-day excursion from Bumthang requiring a significant hike. Best attempted April through November with an early start.

Two routes: (1) From Tharpaling Monastery (37km from Chamkhar), a steep 1-hour climb. (2) From Lamey Goenpa in Choekhor Valley, a 3-hour hike through forest over a pass. Both require good fitness and hiking boots.

Lodges and guesthouses in Bumthang (Jakar) town. No accommodation at the monastery.

Choedrak is a hermitage where silence and non-intrusion are the primary forms of respect.

This is not a tourist site but a working hermitage. If monks are in retreat, their practice is the priority. Move quietly, do not call out or play music. Ask permission before entering chapels. The stone footprint and other sacred objects should not be touched. If you encounter a retreatant, lower your eyes and pass without engagement.

Hiking clothing. Cover shoulders and knees when entering chapels.

Ask permission inside chapels. Exterior photography should be done quietly and without disrupting the atmosphere.

Butter lamp offerings welcome at the chapels.

Do not disturb retreatants | Maintain silence throughout the complex | Stay on established paths | Do not enter areas that appear closed

Sacred places within a half-day’s reach. Pilgrims often visit them together: walk one, stay for the other.

Choeje Dra Monastery

Gyaltsa, Bumthang District, Bhutan

0.0 km away

Jampa Lhakhang

Dawathang_Dorjibi_ Kashingtsawa, Bumthang District, Bhutan

6.5 km away

Kurje Monastery

Dawathang_Dorjibi_ Kashingtsawa, Bumthang District, Bhutan

7.3 km away

Konchogsum Lhakhang, Bumthang

Pedtsheling_Tamzhing, Bumthang District, Bhutan

7.7 km away

Sources consulted when researching this page. Independent verification by readers is welcome.

1. 01Choedrak Monastery - Wikipediahigh-reliability
2. 02Spiritual and Spatial Significance of Choedrak Monastery — Archaeologies journalhigh-reliability
3. 03Choedrak - Sacred Gem in Bhutan's Spiritual Landscape — Bhutan Luxury Tour
4. 04Choedrak Monastery - Bhutan Pilgrimage — Bhutan Pilgrimage