inside the tigers nest

to go into the monestary, we had to leave all our bags, cameras and phones behind. the security was a lot tighter at this monestary than anywhere else we went. there are a good amount of tourists, but they have only been allowed to enter the monestary since 2000. in 1998, almost the entire monestary burned down, the cause of the fire was unknown and lots of relics and the lives of the caretakers were lost. it took 2+ years and the generosity of many nations and donors to rebuild the monestay. all the temples were repainted, and new alters and artifacts were brought to the site. pretty amazing! 

the nest consists of a handful of monestary buildings, intricately woven into the side of the cliff. only a half dozen monks live there to care for the space. the buildings are built above the sacred caves where legend holds that the guru rimpoché flew in on the back of a tiger, and meditated, and left sacred artifacts (scrolls and statues?) behind. 

we visited 4 of the inner temples, all dedicated to different Buddhas, dieties, and incarnations of prominent figures who brought Buddhism to Bhutan. one of the temples had a trap door in the floor, where you could look down into the upper part of the sacred cave, the hole is the shape of the auspicious symbol of the three sided blade. 

as with all the other temples, tshe tshe filled our heads with vibrant descriptions of the art, alters, and stories that weave them all together. 

as impressive as the structure of tigers nest looks from the outside, it is nothing compared to the inside.