Tsa chus - Hidden Springs of Health and Happiness
Tsa chus (mineral hot springs) found all over Bhutan are sacred sites - the home of deities and water goddess. Though located in remote places, these are visited by people from all walks of life irrespective of their profession or status in the society for rest, recreation, rejuvenation and offering prayers to their deities. The bathers enjoy each other’s company and occasionally revel in taking a dig at one of them. “The story captures the Bhutanese spirit of fun, irreverence and happiness.”
At sundown around, the cooking fires, beer and arra flow, new friends are made and stories told. The young men and women dance late into the night then slip off to meet in the dark steaming baths. And day or night the healing sounds of laughter lighten the air.
The Bhutanese make pilgrimages to these remote and often hidden hot springs, called tsa chus in Dzongkha, driving pack animals laden with tents, bedding and enough food and drink to last days or sometimes weeks. These hot springs are places of healing, celebration, rest and devotion. Prayer begins at dawn with the purifying shang ritual offering burning juniper to the deities, local spirits and water goddesses.
Legend credits the 8th century Indian saint Padmasambhava with the creation of these natural treasures. Known to the Bhutanese as Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava brought tantric Buddhism to Bhutan and is said to have used his miraculous powers to bring these blessed waters from the earth.
The Bhutanese are a polite, soft spoken and devout people, yet at the same time they are bawdy, fun loving and irreverent - fitting in a beautiful land where work and worry are low priorities, ‘Gross National Happiness’ wins over Gross National Product and the patron saint is Drukpa Kinley.
A 15th century ‘divine madman’ and hard drinking drop-out monk, Drukpa Kinley gained enlightenment at an early age and then spent the rest of his life as a licentious beggar roaming the country performing miracles, mocking the clergy, and bringing the dharma to the people with wine, women and songs.
His songs are still sung in Bhutan and can sometimes be heard at the tsa chus, celebrating a blessed life of “never working, letting reality hang loosely/Whatever arises is the Path of Enlightenment… Recounting whatever occurs with flippant delight/He is the fool who reveals the lie in the World of Vanity.”
Guru Rinpoche, also an itinerant saint like Drukpa kinley, created tsa chus throughout Bhutan. The tsa chus of Laya and Lunana are probably the most isolated and least known; Chuba Tsa Chu in the Pho river drainage far above Punakha may be the hottest; and Dur Tsa Chu between Bumthang and Thanza with its Dakini springs and Calcium pool bridging an icy stream may be the most unique; but the Gasa Tsa Chu - only a day’s walk from the end of the road - is the most accessible and popular.
In Dzongkha there is no word for ‘vacation’ and no concept of ‘resort’ - the words for pilgrimage ney khor and hot springs tsa chus come closest to the English terms. The seasons bring time for work and time for rest and play in the circle of life. The months of the winter festivals, when it is cold and the land is dormant, bring the Bhutanese to the hot springs in droves.
Bhutan’s tsa chus are free and open to all. An egalitarian society without a tradition of caste, it would not be unusual to find a district governor, a num, a yak herder and a student just returned from a foreign university joking, laughing and enjoying a bath together is a tsa chu. Even His Majesty the King has a cottage at Gasa Tsa Chu, a favourite retreat of the royal family and their guests.
And the tsa chus best reveal the cultural source of His Majesty’s development policy of Gross National Happiness and the spirit of Drukpa Kinley i.e. “Recounting whatever occurs with flippant delight…”
It was cold. The harvest was in and I had passed many Bhutanese on their way to Gasa as I raced down from the frozen heights of Laya, dreaming of being warm and clean for the first time in weeks. I reached the hot springs in twilight, the horses still far behind. Stripping my dirty clothes to my shorts, I crossed the frozen grounds for the baths.
Through the dim light, I saw seven people in one of the large wooden tubs, a shy young num in a sarong, three bare breasted matrons, a tiny toothless old lady, a naked young boy and an old man in jockey shorts holding a bottle of Hit beer, a Sikkimese malt liquor that boasts 8 percent alcohoo. The old man was tall and wiry with short grey hair and thick steamed up glasses. I sat on the tub’s deck and slowly lowered my legs into the water. The old man introduced himself as Ap Shacha, 77 years old from Wangdue, and immediately announced that he wasn’t having as much sex as in the old days.
“Well Ap Shacha, maybe you should be ask these women if they can help you,” I said motioning to the three bright-eyed ladies as I eased into the steaming water. The pretty little nun rolled her shaved head back and forth smiling as I gave thumps up to the ladies.
The three ladies burst out laughing.
“Ap Shacha, the ladies won’t have you.”
“No, no, you don’t understand,” explained Ap Shacha, showing his wide lips and strong teeth stained red with betel nut. “I already have two wives. That’s my problem. The younger one, Pem, is bothering me all the time. I hear that in your country you have medicine that will fix me up, make me strong. I think you should take me to America with you.”
The ladies were clapping their hands and laughing so hard that there were tears in their eyes. The oldest of the three made a backhanded wave, pointing at Ap Shacha. She thought it a good idea that I take the old man to America.
“Well Ap Shacha,” I replied pretending to misunderstand as I eased further into the bath, “I can’t take you to America but I do understand your problem. Maybe this lovely woman can help. With a beauty like her, you wouldn’t need medicine!”
“That’s my granny!” announced the young boy laughing as he pushed across the water towards the grinning toothless old lady. “Angay’s (granny’s) name is Kuenzang Dem, and she doesn’t here well. You must speak loudly. And even she hears you, it won’t make sense to her.”
“Ama Angay“, I shouted, grinning at the old lady. Her eyes were shining and she had been smiling all along watching us as though she understood every word or our jokes, “Ap Shacha needs help. Will you marry him?”
“He’s too old for me,” she laughed waving her hand towards the old man, dismissing him. “Besides I’m a Goddess and my family has lived at this tsa chu for 4,400 years.”
“Ama, where did your family live before they came to this tsa chu?” Ap Shacha shouted and teased.
“I don’t know,” replied Aum Kuenzang not missing a beat, “I’ve only lived here for 2.000 years.”
“Why Angay Ama!” grinned Ap Shacha shouting as he moved closer and put his arm around Aum Kuenzang, “This tsa chu is really powerful medicine. You must have been a beauty of a thousand years ago!”
By: John Wehrheim (excerpts from Bhutan: Lands of Happiness to be published in 2006)