Phallus paintings in Bhutan
The village monastery was built in honour of Lama Drukpa Kunley who lived at the turn of the 16th century and who was popularly known as the "Mad Saint" (nyönpa) or “Divine Madman” for his unorthodox ways of teaching, which amounted to being bizarre and shocking.
[6] The phallic symbols are generally not depicted in community temples and dzongs, which are places of worship where lamas or Buddhist monks and nuns who have adopted celibate lifestyles live.
[7] Dasho Lam Sanga, a former principal of the Institute of Language and Culture Studies (ILCS), while acknowledging that there are no written documents regarding the subject, refers to the oral history: "But the worship of the phallus was believed to be in practice even before the arrival of Guru Rinpoche and Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal ... What we know about it is what we heard from our forefathers.
He was a crazy saint who extensively travelled in Bhutan, who was fond of women and wine, and adopted blasphemous and unorthodox ways of teaching Buddhism.
"[citation needed] Drukpa Kunley's intention was to shock the clergy, who were uppity and prudish in their behaviour and teachings of Buddhism.
[10] He is, therefore, also called the "fertility saint", as the monastery he built, Chimi Lhakhang, is visited by not only Bhutanese women but also people from the United States and Japan.
[12] The nyönpa lived in a place known as Lobesa close to Chimi Lhakhang to drive away demonesses and protect the local people.
Women come to the monastery seeking blessings of children by getting hit on the head by the presiding lama with wooden and bone phalluses.
[10] Among some communities in eastern Bhutan, every year during a particular period, phalluses are worshipped with flowers, red-colored ara and milk, in an effort to seek protection from the evil spirits.
The Atsaras (masked clowns) also decorate their headgear with phallus painted cloth, during the popular Tsechu festival held every year in different monasteries throughout Bhutan.
[7][16] On a road drive from Paro airport to Thimphu these explicit paintings of phalluses are a common sight on “white-washed walls of homes, shops and eateries.”[4] In the Chimi Lhakhang monastery, the shrine dedicated to Drukpa Kunley, several wooden penises are seen being used to bless people who visit the monastery on pilgrimage seeking blessings to bear a child or for welfare of their children.
The glaringly displayed phallus in the monastery is a brown wooden piece with a silver handle, a religious relic considered to possess divine powers and hence used for blessing the spiritually oriented people.
