"A cliff hermitage where Guru Rinpoche rode a tigress and Longchenpa wrote the Seven Treasures"
Choedrak Monastery
Gyaltsa, Bumthang District, Bhutan
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.
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Quick Facts
Location
Gyaltsa, Bumthang District, Bhutan
Tradition
Site Type
Coordinates
27.5340, 90.6871
Last Updated
Mar 9, 2026
Learn More
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.
Origin Story
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.
Key Figures
Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava)
Established the cliff as a sacred meditation site, arriving by tradition on a tigress
Gyalwa Lorepa
Built the monastery and meditated at the cliff for twenty-two years
Longchenpa
Composed part of the Seven Treasures in a cave above the monastery
Ngawang Trinley
Exorcised the site and rebuilt the monastery
Spiritual Lineage
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.
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