Chorten Kora
Two great circumambulations of the whitewashed stupa in the far east.
Pilgrims from both sides of the eastern border circle the Nepali style stupa — first the Dakini kora, then the Drukpa kora a fortnight later.
Chorten Kora is not a courtyard festival but a moving one: the ritual is the walk itself, thousands of pilgrims circling the great whitewashed stupa on the riverbank. The first kora honours the Dakini princess from Tawang who, the valley holds, entered the chorten willingly during its building; the second, two weeks later, belongs to the Bhutanese side.
Pilgrims cross from Arunachal for the first kora, and the meadows around the stupa become a fair — food, bartering, reunions. It is the most atmospheric single ritual in eastern Bhutan, and pairing it with the weaving villages of Trashiyangtse makes one of our favourite far eastern journeys.
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