Lhakhang are religious structures (temples) found throughout the Himalayas (

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

) that house sacred objects, and in which religious activities take place. Lhakhang means "the house of gods": enlightened beings such as the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

, his followers, and other deities. With over two thousand lhakhangs (temples) and goenpa (monasteries) in Bhutan, they can be found in almost every village and on almost every mountain top in the country. Although they do not match the soaring proportions of the

dzongs Dzong architecture is used for dzongs, a distinctive type of fortified monastery ( dz, རྫོང, , ) architecture found mainly in Bhutan and Tibet. The architecture is massive in style with towering exterior walls surrounding a complex of cou ...

, many lhakhang and goenpa are older than dzongs, with some dating as far back as the seventh century. Usually, within a village, the lhakhang is the most prominent building. Besides being religious centres, they also have important social and cultural functions as almost all village cultural events are held there. The Buddhist lhakhang is usually a simple hall with an entrance foyer and a main hall holding the main altar of the temple. Besides the main temple building, simple buildings with rooms for the monks are constructed. Often the layout of a goenpa monastery consist of a one or multiple storey temple building in the centre of a simple courtyard flanked by structures used for the living quarters of the monks.

References

{{Reflist Temples in Nepal Buddhist temples in Bhutan Temples