Bhutan: Prayer flags on the pathway up to Paro Taktsang (Tiger's Nest Temple), Paro Valley, Bhutan, 2015

Paro Taktsang, also known by the names Taktsang Palphug Monastery and the Tiger's Nest, is a major Buddhist sacred site and temple complex built into the 1,000-metre (3,281-foot) cliffside of the upper Paro valley in Bhutan. The elegant structure is perhaps the most well known cultural icon of Bhutan.

The monastery first began construction in 1692 around Taktsang Senge Samdup, a cave where the 8th-century Buddhist sage Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, was said to have meditated in for three years, three months, three days and three hours; Guru Rinpoche is credited for introducing Buddhism to Bhutan, acting as a tutelary deity for the country.

The name Taktsang, which literally translates to "Tigress Lair", comes from the supposed fact that Guru Rinpoche flew to the cave from Tibet on the back of a tigress, who in some legends is said to have been the former wife of an emperor and a disciple of the Guru, named Yeshe Tsogyal.

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

Daniel Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia