"Principal seat of Pema Lingpa's lineage, where a five-hundred-year-old iron chain mail still purifies those who carry it"
Tamshing Monastery
Pedtsheling_Tamzhing, Bumthang District, Bhutan
Tamshing Monastery was founded in 1501 by Pema Lingpa, one of the five great treasure revealers of Vajrayana Buddhism. Its wall paintings — coeval with the founding and among the earliest surviving in Bhutan — include his portrait. Pilgrims circumambulate the altar carrying an iron chain mail that Pema Lingpa made at the age of eight, believing the act cleanses accumulated wrong. The sacred dances he originated here have spread to festivals throughout Bhutan.
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Quick Facts
Location
Pedtsheling_Tamzhing, Bumthang District, Bhutan
Coordinates
27.5875, 90.7378
Last Updated
Mar 9, 2026
Learn More
Founded in 1501 by Pema Lingpa, one of the five great treasure revealers of Vajrayana Buddhism, as the principal seat of his lineage.
Origin Story
Pema Lingpa (1450-1521) received visions directing him to reveal treasures (terma) hidden by Guru Rinpoche in the Bhutanese landscape. He founded Tamshing as his principal seat and created sacred dances to teach Buddhism through movement. The iron chain mail he made at eight years old was blessed for purification. He died at Tamshing in 1521 at age seventy-two.
Key Figures
Pema Lingpa
Treasure revealer (terton), founder of Tamshing in 1501, creator of sacred dances and the iron chain mail
Lhalung Sungtrul Rinpoche
11th speech incarnation of Pema Lingpa, current spiritual leader of Tamshing
Spiritual Lineage
Tamshing is the principal seat of the Pema Lingpa lineage within the Nyingma tradition. The lineage has continued through eleven incarnations of the founder's speech, maintaining unbroken transmission for over five centuries.
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