Rangjung is a small town on the Gamri River in Trashigang District, eastern Bhutan. It is the location of Rangjung Woesel Choeling Monastery, a Nyingma institution founded in 1989 by Garab Rinpoche, which houses over 300 monks and nuns.
Rangjung (རང་བྱུང་, meaning "self-created" in Dzongkha) is a small town on the Gamri River in Trashigang District, eastern Bhutan. It sits in the Radhi Gewog area and serves as a local commercial and religious centre. The town\'s identity is shaped by Rangjung Woesel Choeling Monastery, one of the largest Nyingma institutions in the country.
Geography
Rangjung lies in the Gamri valley in eastern Bhutan, downstream from the dzongkhag capital of Trashigang. The Gamri River (Gamri Chhu) flows through the town before joining the Drangme Chhu further south. The area sits at a mid-altitude position — lower than the main Trashigang ridge but above the subtropical lowlands near the Indian border. The surrounding landscape includes terraced farmland, forested slopes, and scattered hamlets characteristic of eastern Bhutan\'s settlement pattern.
Roads connect Rangjung to Trashigang town to the northeast and to Radhi Gewog to the east, an area known for raw silk production and terraced rice fields.
Rangjung Woesel Choeling Monastery
Rangjung Woesel Choeling Monastery was founded in 1989 by His Eminence Dungse Garab Dorje Rinpoche (commonly known as Garab Rinpoche), who was born and raised in Tibet before leaving at age 17. The monastery follows the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, specifically the Dudjom New Treasure Lineage (Dudjom Tersar), distinguishing it from the Drukpa Kagyu tradition that dominates most of Bhutan\'s official monastic institutions.
The monastery began with a small number of monks and nuns. By 1993, the growing number of female practitioners necessitated a separate nunnery, which was established at Radhi Pakaling, approximately 12 kilometres from the main monastery. The community has since grown to more than 300 resident monks and nuns, including tulkus (reincarnate lamas), khenpos (scholar-abbots), and elderly practitioners who have retired to the monastery for their final years.
Four retreat centres operate under the monastery\'s umbrella, providing facilities for intensive meditation practice. Monks undergo years of training in philosophy, ritual practice, chanting, meditation, and debate. The monastery covers an area of roughly one acre (4,047 square metres).
Significance
Rangjung Woesel Choeling is one of the few major Nyingma institutions in a country where the state-supported monastic body follows the Drukpa Kagyu tradition. Its growth since 1989 reflects the continuing vitality of the Nyingma school in eastern Bhutan, where Nyingma and other non-Kagyu traditions have historically maintained a stronger presence than in the west.
The monastery draws pilgrims from across eastern Bhutan and attracts monks and nuns from the surrounding dzongkhags. Garab Rinpoche\'s leadership has made it a centre for the Dudjom Tersar teachings, and the institution\'s rapid expansion from a handful of monks to over 300 residents in three decades reflects both the Rinpoche\'s spiritual authority and the demand for Nyingma religious education in the region.
Town Life
Beyond the monastery, Rangjung functions as a small market town serving the agricultural communities of the surrounding gewogs. The town has basic commercial facilities and a road junction that connects it to Trashigang and to the Radhi area. Agriculture in the surrounding valleys centres on rice, maize, and livestock, supplemented by the raw silk weaving for which Radhi Gewog is known.
References
See also
Chimi Lhakhang
Chimi Lhakhang, popularly known as the "Temple of Fertility," is a Buddhist temple situated on a hillock in the Punakha Valley of western Bhutan. Built in 1499 by the 14th Drukpa hierarch Ngawang Choegyel at the site where the eccentric saint Drukpa Kunley subdued a demoness, it is a major pilgrimage destination for couples seeking blessings for childbirth.
places·6 min readTharpaling Monastery
Tharpaling Monastery (Tharpaling Goemba) is one of the most important Buddhist monasteries in Bhutan, located above the Chhume Valley in Bumthang District at an altitude of approximately 3,600 metres. Founded by the great Nyingma master Longchenpa (Longchen Rabjam, 1308–1364) in the 14th century during his period of exile from Tibet, Tharpaling remains a major retreat centre and pilgrimage site, renowned for its spiritual significance and spectacular mountain setting.
places·7 min readLingzhi Gewog
Lingzhi is one of the most remote gewogs in Bhutan, located in the northwestern highlands of Thimphu District near the Tibetan border. Accessible only by multi-day trek, it is home to semi-nomadic yak-herding communities and the historic Lingzhi Yugyal Dzong.
places·4 min readBarking Deer in Bhutan
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places·5 min readKhaling Wildlife Sanctuary
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places·5 min readDruk Path Trek
The Druk Path Trek is one of Bhutan's most popular and accessible trekking routes, connecting the Paro and Thimphu valleys over five to six days through a series of high-altitude passes, alpine meadows, and pristine mountain lakes. Reaching a maximum elevation of approximately 4,210 metres at Phume La pass, the trek traverses a landscape of blue pine and rhododendron forests, yak pastures, and ancient lhakhangs (temples), offering panoramic views of the Himalayan peaks including Jhomolhari and Jichu Drake. The Druk Path is shorter and less physically demanding than Bhutan's more famous high-altitude treks, making it an ideal introduction to Himalayan trekking while still offering a genuine wilderness experience in one of the world's most pristine mountain environments.
places·10 min read
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