Few years after
his children had married and settled in different regions of eastern Bhutan,
Khar Khoche sent for them. He wanted to divide his property before his death. Soon
after getting the message, children arranged best gifts for their father with
the intension of gaining his favour in getting the property they wanted. The
son who married a woman from Bartsham Yangkhar in Trashigang was not as wealthy
as his siblings. But he immediately travelled to Khar to see his father, taking
a palang of arra and a few dre of maize. The father was so happy to see him
arrive first and asked him to name his choice of property. He chose the statues
of Chador Yabyum (phyag rdor yab yum). Other children who all wanted the same
statues were not happy.
Back home he
made an altar and made daily offerings to the statues. His fortune increased
and he slowly gained community influence. The statues even blessed him with
many children. Later, his house came to be known as the Chador Lhakhang and his
descendants, Yangkhar Khoche.
The first
Trongsa Penlop, Chogyal Minjur Tenpa heard about the statues and forcefully
took them to Trongsa Dzong. But many inauspicious signs were witnessed such as
falling of many other statues from altar down to the floor. The Penlop realized
Trongsa had no lungten (lung ston) to keep the statues and immediately returned
them to Yangkhar.
It is said that
the statues were once lost when the people of Yangkhar, including the lhakhang
caretaker (dkon gnyer), abandoned the village to escape the Tibetan invasion of
Bhutan in the eighteenth century. When they returned after the defeat of
Tibetans, they found the statues missing. The people searched everywhere but to
no avail. Later they were found abandoned at Monglen. The caretaker found them
beneath a giant tree. As soon as he saw them, one of the statues spoke, “I am
here, come”. Frightened, the caretaker ran for help. But when he returned in
the morning with friends, one statue, Chador Yum, was missing. It is believed
that the missing statue is now beneath the Monglen Lake. A man from Yangla who
stole the statues was resting on the summit of Bartsham Mountain when the place
was struck by a sudden hailstorm. A thick black cloud enveloped everything. He
took a shelter inside an opening beneath a huge rock. When the wind began to
uproot trees and break branches, he ran to his village, abandoning the statues.
There was once a
lake called Yutsang Wang in Khar Bong Dung. When the lake was about to dry,
Khar Dung Gyalpo (‘khar gdung rgyal po) found the statues of Chador Yab Yum. It
is believed the statues were hidden as a hidden treasure (gter) by Pema Lingpa.
When Chador
Yabyum was with Khar Dung Gyalpo, his descendents spread all over eastern
Bhutan, his riches almost equaled that of the king of wealth, and his fame was
louder than thunder.