{{Short description|High mountain pass in Bhutan}} {{Infobox mountain pass | name = Dochu La | photo = Druk Wangyal Chortens, Bhutan 01.jpg | photo_caption = Dochu La with 108 stupas or chortens in Thimphu on the east west road | elevation_m = 3100 | elevation_ref = | traversed = | map = Bhutan | map_caption = Location of Dochu La | map_relief = 1 | location = East-West Road from Thimphu to Punakha 27°29'24"N 89°45'1"E | coords = {{coord|27|29|24|N|89|45|01|E|type:pass|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | range = Himalayas | topo = }} The '''Dochu La''' ''('' Dochu Pass; ''la'' means ''pass'' in Dzongkha) is a mountain pass in the snow covered Himalayas in Bhutan on the road from Thimphu to Punakha. 108 memorial chortens or stupas, known as the "Druk Wangyal Chortens", were built at the pass by Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk, the eldest Queen Mother, in memory of Bhutanese soldiers who died in 2003.<ref name= Braun>{{Cite web|last= Braun |first=David Maxwell |url=http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/12/01/national-geographic-in-bhutan-dochula-pass/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207214828/http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/12/01/national-geographic-in-bhutan-dochula-pass/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 7, 2014|title=National Geographic in Bhutan: Dochula Pass|date= 1 December 2014 |access-date=16 October 2015|publisher=National Geographic}}</ref><ref name=Council>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tourism.gov.bt/map/dochula|title=Dochula|access-date=16 October 2015|publisher=Tourism Council of Bhutan}}</ref> There is also a monastery, called the Druk Wangyal Lhakhang (temple), built in honour of the fourth Druk Gyalpo (head of the state of Bhutan), Jigme Singye Wangchuck.<ref name="Council" /> The open ground in its front yard is a venue for the annual Dochula Druk Wangyel Festival.<ref name="Druk">{{Cite web|url=http://www.tourism.gov.bt/activities/dochula-druk-wangyel-festival|title=Dochula Druk Wangyel Festival|access-date=16 October 2015|publisher=Department of Tourism, Government of Bhutan}}</ref> The pass is adjacent to the country{{'}}s first Royal Botanical Park.<ref name=Planet>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/bhutan/thimphu-to-the-dochu-la|title=Introducing Thimphu to the Dochu La|access-date=16 October 2015|publisher=Lonely Planet|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117031003/http://www.lonelyplanet.com/bhutan/thimphu-to-the-dochu-la|archive-date=17 November 2015|df=}}</ref>
==Geography== [[File:082 - Gangkar Puensum - 7,570m (Dochula pass) (4677022812).jpg|left|thumb|Gangkar Puensum, the highest peak in Bhutan as seen from the Dochula Pass]]
The pass is located at an elevation of {{Convert|3100|m}} ({{Convert|3140|m}}<ref name=Planet/> and {{Convert|3150|m}}{{Sfn|Ura|2011|p=review}} are also mentioned) on the East West Road from Thimphu to Punakha amidst the Eastern Himalayan snow-covered mountains.<ref name=Botanic>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bgci.org/news-and-events/news/0134/?sec=resources&option=com_news&id=0134|title=Lamperi, Bhutan Declared Royal Botanical Park|date=23 November 2005|access-date=17 October 2015|publisher=Botanic Gardens Conservation International|archive-date=24 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124092346/http://www.bgci.org/news-and-events/news/0134/?sec=resources&option=com_news&id=0134|url-status=dead}}</ref> To the northeast of the pass, the snow-clad mountain peaks of the Himalayas are seen prominently. Among them are Mt. Masanggang at {{Convert|7194|m}} and Mt. Gangkar Puensum, which is the highest peak in Bhutan at an elevation of {{convert |7570|m|ft|0}} and a prominence of {{convert|2995|m|ft|0}}.<ref name=Drive>{{cite book|title=Treasures of the Thunder Dragon: A Portrait of Bhutan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T4BoEodH3JAC&pg=PA7|year=2006|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-670-99901-9|pages=6–7}}</ref> The road east of the pass runs steeply for some distance and then takes a left turn towards the Punakha Valley to the Punakha Dzong in Punakha (the old capital of Bhutan). Further east the road reaches Wangdue Phodrang, where there a seventh-century monastery on the ridge; that valley is drained by the Punatsangchu River.<ref name=Drive/> The pass was part of ancient trails or tracks between Thimphu and Punakha, some of which are now part of the Dochu La Nature Trail ({{Convert|1.2|km}}), which begins at the Dochu La cafe and meets the present road at Lamperi, and the Lumitsawa Ancient Trail ({{Convert|4.7|km}}), which joins the main road at Lumitsawa.<ref name=Planet/>
The weather at the pass generally remains foggy and chilly.<ref name=Pass/> However, between October and February, panoramic views of the Bhutanese Himalayas can be seen.<ref name=Planet/> thumb|right|Vew of Dochula Pass in Bhutan, with forest in the background The forest cover of the pass consists of Himalayan hemlock trees, with cypresses at lower elevations. The hill slopes around the pass are festooned with a profusion of colourful religious flags fixed by the Buddhist people as a mark of veneration. The flags, made in five colours representing the natural forces — blue for sky, white for clouds, red for fire, green for water and yellow for earth — are inscribed with Buddhist scriptural prayers to usher prosperity and peace around the country.<ref name=Pass>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/travel/10-things-to-do-in-bhutan/article5006763.ece|title=10 Things to do in Bhutan|work=Dochula Pass|date=10 August 2013|access-date=16 October 2015|publisher=The Hindu}}</ref>
After the Losar festival in February, which marks the Bhutanese New Year, and as the snow melts, the pass provides a spectacle of many species of flowers, such as ''Primula denticulata'', ''Primula bracteosa'' and, in the subsequent month, rhododendrons blooming in profusion.{{Sfn|Bisht|2008|p=58}} ''Magnolia campbellii'' also blooms on the pass during this period.<ref name="Drive" /> Another fragrant plant is the Daphne, which is a small shrub which blooms with white flowers. The bark of this plant is used to make a traditional paper used for writing religious scriptures, as it is termite resistant.{{Sfn|Bisht|2008|p=58}}
==Landmarks== The landmarks around the pass include the 108 Druk Wangyal Khang Zhang Chortens (stupas), the Druk Wangyal Lhakhang (temple), and the rhododendron garden, which is part of the 47 km<sup>2</sup> Royal Botanical Park.
===Druk Wangyal Khang Zhang Chortens=== right|thumb|Full view of the chortens at the Dochu La Pass The Druk Wangyal Khang Zhang Chortens are red-band or khangzang chortens, 108 in numbers, built on a central hillock at the pass, under the patronage of the Queen Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk. In the local language they are called the ''gYul Las rNampar Gyal wai''' chortens, or chortens of victory.{{Sfn|Rennie|Mason|2008|p=185}} These were built as a memorial to the Bhutanese soldiers who were killed in the December 2003 battle against Assamese insurgents from India. They mark the victory of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who dislodged the rebels from their 30 camps in Bhutanese territory, from whence they were raiding Indian territory of Assam.<ref name= Braun/><ref name=Pass/> The chortens were completed in mid-June 2004 and consecrated and sanctified with religious rites held on 19–20 June.<ref name=Ashi>{{cite book|title=Treasures of the Thunder Dragon: A Portrait of Bhutan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T4BoEodH3JAC&pg=PA111|year=2006|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-670-99901-9|pages=111–112}}</ref> right|thumb|108 chortens in three layers at the Dochula Pass thumb|left|Detail of a chorten at Dochula Pass The chortens are built in three layers. The lowest level layer has forty-five chortens, the second has thirty-six and the top layer has twenty-seven, all built around the main chorten.<ref name=Ashi/> The construction of these chortens was done as per religiously ordained ritualistic procedures. As the height of the chortens attained 1 m a pit was excavated in ground in the centre, and symbolically offerings of grains and bronze utensil filled with butter were placed in the pit. At the next stage, as the height of chortens increased, images of Buddhist gods made of clay stuffed with papers inscribed with prayers were interred. In the next stage, which is considered the "vital stage" in erecting a chorten, the ''sokshing'' ("the life tree of the chorten") was fixed. The ''sokshing'', which is believed to provide a link between heaven and earth within a chorten, is in the form of a long square wooden pole made from a juniper tree made by an individual who has appropriate qualities from an astrological point of view. The pole was painted red and inscribed with sacred hymns and banded with religious paraphernalia such as gilded images of gods, prayer bells, small clay stupas, and precious stones and jewellery. The ''sokshing'' was then wrapped around by silk cloth and then fixed in the partly built chorten on an auspicious day.<ref name=Ashi/>
===Druk Wangyal Lhakhang=== thumb|A close view of Dochula Pass with the Druk Wangyal Chortens with the monastery called the Druk Wangyal Lhakhang at the far end After completion of the chortens, construction of a temple known as the Druk Wangyel Lhakhng was initiated and completed in June 2008. This was built to celebrate 100 years of monarchy in Bhutan. Paintings on themes of Bhutanese history decorate the walls of the temple.<ref name=Ashi/> Some of the murals are cartoonish. A few of the paintings relate to the fourth king fighting Indian rebels in the forest, monks with laptop, and a Druk Air plane. It appears like a "Bhutanese fusion of the 21st and 15th centuries".<ref name=Planet/>
===Dochu La Wangyal Festival=== The Dochula Druk Wangyel Tsechu (festival) is held annually on December 13, at the Druk Wangyel Festival ground. This festival was established in 2011 to commemorate the victory of the Fourth Druk Gyalpo and the Armed Forces in 2003. A special ''tsechu'' was composed for the occasion by Dasho Karma Ura and involves costumed mask dances.{{Sfn|Ura|2011|p=review}}<ref name=Ashi/>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
== Bibliography == *{{cite book|last=Bisht |first=Ramesh Chandra |title=International Encyclopaedia of Himalayas |year=2008 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-8324-265-3}} *{{cite book|last1= Rennie |first1=Frank |last2= Mason |first2=Robin |title=Bhutan: Ways of Knowing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sHAnAtNrUQoC&pg=PA185|year=2008|publisher=IAP|isbn=978-1-59311-734-4}} *{{cite book|last= Ura |first=Karma |title=Dochula Druk Wangyel Festival|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rNUdrgEACAAJ|year=2011}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Dochu La}} * [https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293845-d3217263-Reviews-Dochula_Pass-Thimphu_Thimphu_District.html Dochula Pass Tripadvisor Guide] *[https://northbengaltourism.com/dochula-pass/ Dochula Pass Travel Guide]
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Category:Mountain passes of the Himalayas Category:Mountain passes of Bhutan