Chorten Standing Solid and Strong in Tsha-Ri-Ja-Thang

Tsha-Ri-Ja-Thang is in Gasa Dzongkhag and it can be reached after 6 days of hike from Drugyel in Paro at an elevation of about 3800 meters above mean sea level. I hiked from Drugyel to Damji in 2008 and had wonderful opportunity to camp near Tsha-Ri-Ja-Thang. This place is very important to the wild-lifers as it plays as an important summer habitat of the National Animal of Bhutan, Takin (Budorcus taxicolor). I enjoyed rare opportunity of watching Takin in their natural habitat in Tsha-Ri-Ja-Thang. The chorten is constructed overlooking the Takin habitat area and one can watch Takin and their behaviour lying by the side of the chorten.
Yak herders generally roam the place with their herds of yaks and horses, but now a days they are restricted to do so during the Takin's arrival in their place. Takin are shy mammals, thus, one should refrain from wearing bright coloured garments while undertaking the task of watching them.

Takin has wonderful historical and cultural importance in Bhutan. Takin is believed to be created by Lama Drukpa Kuenley (Famously known to the west as Devine Mad man). He combined the head of a Goat to the body of a bull, thus the appearance of Takin.

During winter, the majestic animal migrate

towards south (Damji) via Mo-chu. Across the
Gasa Tshachu is an important Takin migration route. There has been debate going on between the Gasa Dzongkhag Administration and the Park people. Dzongkhag administration people were trying to construct some guest houses right in the middle of the Takin's migratory route to attract more tourist in the area, while Park (Conservation people) were objecting the idea. I guess finally Conservation might have won over the economic gains letting the Majestic Takin to breathe in PEACE.

Comments

Cordyceps

This article is part of my thesis “Fuelwood Consumption and Production in Alpine Bhutan: A case study in Wangchuck Centennial Park, Bumthang, Bhutan). I have also worked on uses of Cordyceps in Pharmaceutical industries long time back, but could not trace out as of now. If people are interested I will try to re-write it and publish it. I have also cited references, in-case if any readers is interested to explore further. I will also try to provide papers to those who are interested to know more about the organism. What is Cordyceps Cordyceps sinensis is an Ascomycetes medical fungus with a long and illustrious history. The genus Cordyceps is mostly entomophagous flask fungi belonging to the family Clavicipataceae (Winkler, 2008). Although it is not actually a mushroom in the taxonomic sense, it has been regarded as a medicinal mushroom for centuries. The name Cordyceps comes from the Latin words “cord” and “ceps”, meaning, “club” and “head”, respectively (Holliday et al., 2005). Th

Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs) or Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs)

Both Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs) and Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) refers to what is earlier known as Minor Forest Products (MFPs). The use of "MFPs" terminology has been discontinued as it seems to greatly mis-guide the produce. For instance collection and trade of Cordyceps ( Ophiocordyceps sinensis ) by high alpine dwellers and even Chirata ( Swertia chirata ) in the east (Shigkhar Lauri) contributes more than 50% of their annual earnings, which of-course is clear that these forest products doesnot justify to be called as minor. NWFPs and NTFPs are two very similar yet different terminologies adopted to address these produce of forest other than timber. In short it includes everything besides timber. Rattan Shoot In Bhutan we use NWFP and it is defined in the National Forest Policy of Bhutan, 2011as, "NWFP means resin, varnish, katha, kutch, plants, flowers, seeds, bamboo, bulbs, roots, leaves, grasses, creepers, reeds, orchids, cane, fungi, moss, medic

The Mighty Manas River and Future of "SHE"

The Manas River is a trans-boundary river in the Himalayan foothills between southern Bhutan and India . It is named after Manasa , the serpent god in Hindu Mythology . It is the largest river system of Bhutan, among its four major river systems; the other three are Amo Chu or Toorsa , Wang Chu or Raidak, Puna Tsang Chhu or Sunkoosh . The total length of the river is 376 kilometres, flows through Bhutan for 272 kilometres and then through Assam for 104 kilometres before it joins the mighty Brahmaputra River . Mighty Manas River is formed by merging two rivers, viz. Dangme Chhu and Mangde Chhu in a place called Dung-du-me brag and Un-dhala thang in Panbang. Confluence of Dangme Chhu and Mangede Chhu and also showing Bird eye-view of Panbang. Source: Google Earth The river valley has two major reserve forest areas, namely the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan and the contiguous Manas Wildlife Sanctuary encompassing Project Tiger Reserve which constitutes a UNESCO Wo

Expression from an Idiot by birth:

Search This Blog