Stone Bowl of Khamdang, Trashi Yangtse

Stone Bowl at Khamdang

Khamdang village located in khamdang geog under Trashi Yangtse Dzongkhag which is on the sheer slope ridge. Its hold the old trail that connects Doksom to Trashi Yangste and Trashi Yangtse to the other parts of the region. If you want to travel from Doksum to khamdang on foot, you need to take an old track to reach your destination. The trail was the main route that was used by the upper part of Trashi Yangtse which passes through khamdang to reach other parts of Bhutan. When people start their journey from Doksum to Trashi Yangtse one need to hike the steep route through Khamdang. Moreover, as we can see these days also the scarcity of water in the locality make traveler difficult to pace their journey uphill to reached Shalli villge. They will get water only when they reached to Shalli.

During that time, there lived a powerful and wealthy man called Khamdang Leki Samdrup, who lived in khamdang. As a powerful and wealthy man in the locality and sighted the suffering and difficulties faced by the traveler, he took a generous resolution to keep locally fermented wine (བང་ཆང་།) on the trail. Then he made a stone bowl to store the fermented wine so that passers-by can have they share of drink to quench their thirst. His sympathetic effort has benefited and help thousands of traveler to gain energy and to quench their thirst, but as good action is always followed by bad, the trader who took the same route poison the fermented wine bowl and found dead whoever drink the wine from the bowl. From there onwards he discontinue keeping the fermented wine in the bowl and it was a loss for other traveler who took the trail in the later part.  

Today, if you wants to see the stone Bowl, you need to take an old trail either to reached Khamdang or Doksum from either side and when you reach near Jarung Khashor Chorten (now it is ruin) you will be able to see that stone bowl used to stored fermented wine by Khandang Leki Samdrup.