Date - BhutaneseBelived to be in the first quarter of the 20th Century
CategoryHeritage site - Monasteries and Temples
CommunityAna Village, Sangbay Gewog, Haa Dzongkhag
Description
Ana Goenpa (Wylie. a na mgon pa, Dzongkha. ཨ་ན་མགོན་པ) is located in the middle of the three villages; Sharpa (ཤར་པ), Ana (ཨ་ན) and Shebji (ཤེསཔ་སྦྱིས). To reach the Goenpa, one has to drive for about two hours south from Haa Dzongkhag Administration until we reach the tri-junction. The right road leads to Sangbay Dungkhag and the left to Gakiling gewog. One has to take the right turn and drive for another twenty minutes until one come across a suspension bridge. After crossing the bridge, there is a road divergent at 50 meters distance. The right one leads to Ana village and the left to Sangbay Dungkhag. One has to take the right road which is a farm road and drive upward for half an hour to reach Ana village. The Goenpa is located within walking distance of about 10 meters upward from the farm road.
History
The exact date of the Goenpa’s construction or its founder is not known. According to Tashi (personal communication, December 31, 2021), the elders of the village narrate that the temple was constructed contemporary to the reigns of the 55thJe Khenpo, Choglay Trulku Yeshe Nodrup (1851-1917, r. 1915-1917), and the First Druk Gyalpo, Ugyen Wangchuk (1862-1926, r. 1907-1926). Based on this oral record, this would put the estimated date of construction of the Goenpa between 1915 and 1926.
According to Tashi (personal communication, December 31, 2021), the term Ana (ཨ་ན) was used after the villagers observed that the cliff which is located below the Goenpa and just above the river that flows down to Amochu had shapes of the letters ཨ and ན (ཨ་ན). Hence, the name of the village came to be known as Anakha. To see the letters, one has to look from the opposite side of the river. Tashi (personal communication, December 31, 2021), further stated that before the construction of the Goenpa on the present site which is about 3 acres, the land was plain and barren, and not even a single shrub or plant grew on the site. The villagers believed that the site was an assembly spot of the evil spirits. After the construction of the Goenpa, the site became verdurous. The Goenpa was privately owned by late Ap Adak (ཨ་དྲག), Tashi’s father, and after his demise, Tashi and his family took care of the Goenpa until they decided to hand it over to the community in the 1990s.
The Goenpa was severely damaged by the 2009 and 2011 earthquakes. In 2009, the government provided a fund of 0.4 million ngultrums for the reconstruction of the Goenpa. The community people provided monetary and labour assistance for the reconstruction. However, due to the exhaustion of funds, the completion of the Goenpa’s reconstruction was delayed. In 2020, the Gewog Administration released the required budget, and the villagers were able to resume the Goenpa reconstruction works. Currently, the structural construction of the Goenpa has been completed, however, the interior paintings are being carried out. The Goenpa is expected to be fully completed and consecrated by the end of 2022.
Architectural Style
The Goenpa is a two-storied traditional structure built with stone, wood, cement with CGI roofings. The ground floor of the Goenpa is used for preparing sacrificial cakes during rituals, and to accommodate devotees during Nyungney.
On the first floor, there is the main altar which has statues of Guru Rinpoche in the center, Buddha Sakyamuni on the right, and another Guru Rinpoche statue on the left. On the right side of Buddha Sakyamuni, there are statues of the Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, Khandro Mandarava, and Avalokitesvara. On the left side of the Guru Rinpoche, there are statues of Khandro Yeshe Tsogyal, Vajrasattva and another statue of the Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal.
There is a wall painting of Kagyu masters on the left of the wall of the main altar and a wall painting of Dharma protectors such as Yeshe Gonpo and Palden Lhamo on the right-hand side of the main altar. In the front there is a butter-lamp house and on the right side of the Gonpa there is kitchen used for papering sacrificial cakes during rituals.
Social and Cultural Functions
Ana Goenpa celebrates religious festivals such as;
On the 8th, 9th, and the 10th days of the first month of the Bhutanese calendar; the Goenpa has the recitation of Mani (མ་ཎི), the six syllables mantra of Avalokitesvara. The villagers sponsor the event.
On the 18th day of the first month of the Bhutanese calendar, the Goenpa conducts a ritual of Phurpa (ཕུརཔ). The temple caretaker sponsors the ritual.
On the 30th of the first month of the Bhutanese calendar, the Goenpa conducts Nyungney (fasting and prayer). The villagers sponsor the event.
On the 10th day of the second month of the Bhutanese calendar, the Goenpa conducts Tshechu (ཚེ་བཅུ). The villagers sponsor the event.
On the 10th day of the third month of the Bhutanese calendar, coinciding with the Zhabdrung Kuchoe, there is a commemorative service sponsored by the former monks of the community.
On the 18th day of the seventh month of the Bhutanese calendar, the Goenpa conducts a ritual to appease the Dharma Protectors. The temple caretaker sponsors the event.
On the 22nd day of the ninth month of the Bhutanese calendar, coinciding with the Descending Day of Lord Buddha, there is a commemorative service sponsored by the villagers.
Informants
Tashi, former Mangmi, Ana village
Researcher
Sherub Tenzin, Associate Lecturer, College of Language and Culture Studies, 2021
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Ana Goenpa
Description
Ana Goenpa (Wylie. a na mgon pa, Dzongkha. ཨ་ན་མགོན་པ) is located in the middle of the three villages; Sharpa (ཤར་པ), Ana (ཨ་ན) and Shebji (ཤེསཔ་སྦྱིས). To reach the Goenpa, one has to drive for about two hours south from Haa Dzongkhag Administration until we reach the tri-junction. The right road leads to Sangbay Dungkhag and the left to Gakiling gewog. One has to take the right turn and drive for another twenty minutes until one come across a suspension bridge. After crossing the bridge, there is a road divergent at 50 meters distance. The right one leads to Ana village and the left to Sangbay Dungkhag. One has to take the right road which is a farm road and drive upward for half an hour to reach Ana village. The Goenpa is located within walking distance of about 10 meters upward from the farm road.
History
The exact date of the Goenpa’s construction or its founder is not known. According to Tashi (personal communication, December 31, 2021), the elders of the village narrate that the temple was constructed contemporary to the reigns of the 55th Je Khenpo, Choglay Trulku Yeshe Nodrup (1851-1917, r. 1915-1917), and the First Druk Gyalpo, Ugyen Wangchuk (1862-1926, r. 1907-1926). Based on this oral record, this would put the estimated date of construction of the Goenpa between 1915 and 1926.
According to Tashi (personal communication, December 31, 2021), the term Ana (ཨ་ན) was used after the villagers observed that the cliff which is located below the Goenpa and just above the river that flows down to Amochu had shapes of the letters ཨ and ན (ཨ་ན). Hence, the name of the village came to be known as Anakha. To see the letters, one has to look from the opposite side of the river. Tashi (personal communication, December 31, 2021), further stated that before the construction of the Goenpa on the present site which is about 3 acres, the land was plain and barren, and not even a single shrub or plant grew on the site. The villagers believed that the site was an assembly spot of the evil spirits. After the construction of the Goenpa, the site became verdurous. The Goenpa was privately owned by late Ap Adak (ཨ་དྲག), Tashi’s father, and after his demise, Tashi and his family took care of the Goenpa until they decided to hand it over to the community in the 1990s.
The Goenpa was severely damaged by the 2009 and 2011 earthquakes. In 2009, the government provided a fund of 0.4 million ngultrums for the reconstruction of the Goenpa. The community people provided monetary and labour assistance for the reconstruction. However, due to the exhaustion of funds, the completion of the Goenpa’s reconstruction was delayed. In 2020, the Gewog Administration released the required budget, and the villagers were able to resume the Goenpa reconstruction works. Currently, the structural construction of the Goenpa has been completed, however, the interior paintings are being carried out. The Goenpa is expected to be fully completed and consecrated by the end of 2022.
Architectural Style
The Goenpa is a two-storied traditional structure built with stone, wood, cement with CGI roofings. The ground floor of the Goenpa is used for preparing sacrificial cakes during rituals, and to accommodate devotees during Nyungney.
On the first floor, there is the main altar which has statues of Guru Rinpoche in the center, Buddha Sakyamuni on the right, and another Guru Rinpoche statue on the left. On the right side of Buddha Sakyamuni, there are statues of the Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, Khandro Mandarava, and Avalokitesvara. On the left side of the Guru Rinpoche, there are statues of Khandro Yeshe Tsogyal, Vajrasattva and another statue of the Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal.
There is a wall painting of Kagyu masters on the left of the wall of the main altar and a wall painting of Dharma protectors such as Yeshe Gonpo and Palden Lhamo on the right-hand side of the main altar. In the front there is a butter-lamp house and on the right side of the Gonpa there is kitchen used for papering sacrificial cakes during rituals.
Social and Cultural Functions
Ana Goenpa celebrates religious festivals such as;
Informants
Tashi, former Mangmi, Ana village
Researcher
Sherub Tenzin, Associate Lecturer, College of Language and Culture Studies, 2021