The Kingdom of Bumthang was one of several small kingdoms within the territory of modern Bhutan before the first consolidation under Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in 1616. After initial consolidation, the Bumthang Kingdom became Bumthang Province, one of the nine Provinces of Bhutan. The region was roughly analogous to modern-day Bumthang District. It was again consolidated into the modern Kingdom of Bhutan in 1907.
The Kingdom of Bumthang is particularly notable among its many contemporary Bhutanese chiefdoms because it was here that Buddhism first took root in Bhutan. The kingdom also contained several places relevant to particularly Bhutanese legends. The kingdom is also the ancestral homeland of the House of Wangchuck, which was among local elite families that surpassed the erstwhile Tibetan aristocracy. During Bhutan's early history, Bumthang served as a locus of exile for both Tibetan and Indian rulers, and as the home of Buddhist saint Pema Lingpa.
Arrival of Buddhism
Buddhism was first introduced to Bhutan in the 7th century AD. Tibetan king Songtsän Gampo (reigned 627–49), a convert to Buddhism, ordered the construction of two Buddhist temples, at Bumthang in central Bhutan and at Kyichu (near Paro) in the Paro Valley.
Buddhism replaced but did not eliminate the Bön religious practices that had also been prevalent in Tibet until the late 6th century. Instead, Buddhism absorbed Bön and its believers. As the country developed in its many fertile valleys, Buddhism matured and became a unifying element. It was Buddhist literature and chronicles that began the recorded history of Bhutan.
Buddhism was propagated in earnest in 746 under King Sindhu Rāja (also Künjom; Sendha Gyab; Chakhar Gyalpo), an exiled Indian king who had established a government in Bumthang at Chakhar Gutho Palace. The king was engaged in a war against King Nawuchhe, another Indian king to the south, during which the king fell physically ill due to possession by a Bön demon. The king's illness was reportedly brought on by the loss of his son Tala Mebar in the war, and his subsequent abandonment of his guardian spirit ("Phola") and commission of various impure acts. This caused Seling Karpo, the chief of the Lhaday (gods and demons), to revoke the soul of the king.
Upon the advice of a minor fief, Sindhu Rāja invited Padmasambhava to exorcise the demon and cure his illness. Upon arrival, the saint requested a Tantric consort (Zungma), and in reply the king offered his daughter Lhachig Bumden Tshomo (Menmo Tashi Kyeden), who possessed twenty-one marks of a dakini. After capturing the demon and converting it to Buddhism, Guru Rinpoche cured the Bumthang king. The king himself also converted to Buddhism. and went on to found several pilgrimage sites including Kuje Temple. As a result, many mountains and deities worshipped by Bönpa were incorporated into local Buddhism.
The king's daughter went to live in the cave of Dorji Tsepa, where her Guru meditated. She acted as Dupdemo, whose duty was to fetch water and help the Guru in his religious activities. She came to be known as Machig Bumden ("single mother") because of her reputable religious service.
Bumthang in legend
The Bumthang Kingdom enjoys a place in some of the legends of ancient Bhutan. The oldest lies behind a notable Jakar temple. Bumthang's Jambey Lhakhang was, according to legend, one of 108 temples built in a single night by Songtsen Gampo (605 or 617?–649). Jambey Lhakhang was destroyed by demons who prevented its reconstruction. To drive them off, villagers danced naked under the full moon, causing the demons confusion and panic. To celebrate the legend, a local dance festival is held at the Lhakhang yearly.
Some later Buddhists in the region laid claim to Buddhist roots predating Buddhism itself, in King Drime Kunden and the prior incarnations of Buddha, between 2000 and 1000 BC.
The Mo Bar, or Burning Lake, is named for the legend of lama Pema Lingpa, who entered the lake to find a holy treasure, emerging not only with the relic, but with his lamp still burning.
Legend also holds that a zealot lama built chortens along a road in Bumthang in order to propagate Buddhism in early times. He named each chorten with the suffix -ji, meaning "berry," after bundles of his blessed berries fell along the route.