Religion: Following an increasing number of deaths in the dzongkhag, Mongar’s lam neten conducted a salang (ground breaking) ceremony and ritual was held on February 7 for the construction of a Namgyel Khangzang Chorten above Mongar Lower Secondary School in Changshingzor.

The dzongkhag coordinated the event on His Holiness the Je Khenpo’s instructions. The dzongkhag was informed that Chanshingzor, where a deity is believed to inhibit has been dirtied after people started dumping huge amount of garbage.

To ensure that similar misfortunes don’t occur, the dzongkhag needs to perform soelkha and zhiwai jing-seg annually and build a Namgyel Khangzang chorten before the first month of the Bhutanese calendar.

Including the two deaths last month, a total of nine deaths have occurred in Chanshingzor since 2014.

Should the dzongkhag fail to perform these rituals and build the chorten, they have been cautioned that three deaths, of males born in the year of pig, monkey and dog would occur within first month of the Bhutanese calendar.

Work has already begun to construct the chorten and perform the rituals.

By Tashi Phuntsho