Hike to Chimi Lhakhang

Chimi Lhakhang is known as Bhutan’s Fertility Temple. It is dedicated to Lama Drukpa Kunley (also known as the Divine Madman) and is popular among childless Bhutanese couples seeking blessings for fertility. The hike to the temple is around 20 to 30 minutes. The trail cuts through a flat paddy field and gentle slope.

Every year, thousands of people visit Chimi Lhakhang to pray for a child or to seek protection for children they already have. There are anecdotes of tourists who have made the pilgrimage to Chimi Lhakhang, and promptly conceived within a year after the visit.

The Lhakhang houses many relics including a 10-inch ivory, wood and bone phallus, as well as the bow and arrow supposedly used by the Divine Madman – Drukpa Kuenley, hundreds of years ago.

Locals also come to the Lhakang to get a name for their newborn child. This is done by picking up random bamboo slips placed in the altar, inscribed with names of boys and girls.