Dungsam’s own son recalls the region’s past glory

Pemagatshel: Pemagatshel Dzongkhag will soon see its new seat of justice in the new town of Denchi. The chief justice of the Supreme Court, Lyonpo Sonam Tobgay, attended the salang ceremony on September 9.

As a prominent figure from Pemagatshel, Lyonpo Sonam Tobgay recalled the past glory of Dungsam region in the presence of some 1,000 people attending the ceremony. He said history is important. “We are the heirs of that [glorious] past and the worthy heirs must add to that legacy,” he said.

The summer heat was unforgiving, but Lyonpo’s refreshingly new talk on the region’s old history, hitherto largely unknown, kept the people oblivious to the searing heat.

Describing the new court building that will rise from the fallow land as an “edifice of magnificence with the promise of justice”, he said it will bring back the glory of Shalikhar Dzong, which was destroyed around 1864 during Bhutan’s war with British India.

Shalikhar Dzong is about 15 kilometres north-west of Pemagatshel Dzong.

Shalikhar Dzong is among the most important, but little known, dzongs of Bhutan. As a young boy, Lyonpo Sonam Tobgay heard elders tell conflicting stories about the glory and downfall of the dzong.

Some said it took three days of artillery shelling to bring down the dzong while others said the dzong withstood artillery attack for seven days.

Shalikhar Dzong played an important role in the mediaeval Bhutan. But it has found little mention in the annals of Bhutan history.

The phrase ‘Thrang thrang zabu’, which still evokes a mixture of humour and significance, has its origin in the days of Shalikhar, Lyonpo Sonam Tobgay said. During Bhutan’s war with British India, the people of Dungsam region, who knew little Indian languages, were said to have told the retreating Indian fighters to “go back straight home” (thrang thrang zabu).

Today, the last remains of the dzong are on the verge of being lost forever.

Describing the up-coming dzong and court in Denchi as a mark of resurgence of the past glory, Lyonpo said it is time to celebrate the indomitable spirit that energizes the nation.

He said the earliest recorded history of the dzongkhag dated back to 869 AD as Dungsam in the biography of Lhasey Tsangma, a Tibetan prince on exile, whose youngest son, Pel Thongley, visited the region and started the social class called Khhochey.

Thereafter, luminaries like Khedrup Kuenga Wangpo, son of Terton Pema Lingpa, not only visited the place but also started Khairi Chhoejay, a religious nobility, in around 1534 AD followed by the visit of Yab Tenpai Nyima.

The second Druk Desi, Tenzin Drukdra, was born to Yab Tenpai Nyima and a local woman. The dzongkhag was also blessed by revered Jigme Kuendel, who upon the instructions of his root teacher Jigme Lingpa, built Yongla Gonpa, which played a significant role in Bhutan’s war with British India in the 1860s.

Thereafter, several rinpoches and Buddhist masters blessed the place with their visits.

Sixty-five-year-old Meme Dorji, who was among the audience, said he did not know that “our place” also has a glorious history like any other place in Bhutan. The history as narrated by the chief justice, he said, is inspiring.

The ambience and architecture of the court, the chief justice said, will generate respect and personify cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, fortitude and the spiritual virtues of faith, hope and responsibility.

“It will demonstrate the fundamental importance of the court of justice in sustaining the whole edifice of society to uphold and protect the citizens and their freedoms,” he said.

The chief justice thanked the Danish government for its contribution to the judiciary in building infrastructures, human resource development and for the information technology, which began from 2005.

The court in Pemagatshel, which will be built at a cost of Nu 30 million Danish assistance, is the seventh of its kind in the country.

The head of the representative office of Denmark, Henrik A Neilsen, also attended the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the court.

By Gyembo Namgyal