Dorjitse Monastery is located a few kilometers North of Phromphrong village (about 20 milometers east of Jakar / Chamkhar town) under Tang Gewog of Bumthang district in central Bhutan. The monastery was first established by Lama Gyalwa Shacha Rabgay the third reincarnation of Gyalsey Darmadodey in the late 12th century.
It was said that when Gyalsey Darmadodey was about to die in Tibet, his father Lord Marpa (root teacher of Milarepa) gave him secret instructions and empowerment on ejection and transference of consciousness (phowa drunjug) thereby enabling Gyalsey Darmadodey to pass his consciousness into a dead pigeon which miraculously came to life and flew, as was destined and commanded by Marpa, towards India.
While flying towards India in accordance with his father Lord Marpa’s instructions, the pigeon saw a mountain in central Bhutan (the current location of this monastery) that looked like a five-pronged Vajra or Dorji (Thunderbolt). Is is said that the pigeon landed on top of this mountain and rested for three nights. After the third night, before flying towards India, the pigeon sat on a fragment of a rock in order to foresee his prophecy that he can benefit the future sentient beings in the region by his future reincarnations. He thought to himself, “If it is for me to be successful in benefiting the beings of this region in future, let there be my footprint on this fragment of rock.” No sooner had the pigeon thought this to himself, there appeared his claw-print on the rock, which is can be seen even to this day.
Then, the pigeon flew towards India where he then transferred his consciousness to a corpse of a Brahmin son who was just about to be cremated but who after receiving consciousness from the pigeon suddenly came to life and thereafter, came to be known as Mahasiddha Tiphupa (Paravatapada), the second reincarnation of Gyalsey Darma Dedey.
Then as Tiphupa was nearing his life’s end, he then transferred his consciousness to Lama Gyalwa Shacha Rabgay who was born in eastern Bhutan in the 12th century. This method of transferring consciousness from one body to another (zuekay) is the unique and typical characteristics of how the reincarnations of Gyalsey Darmadodey pass from one body to another unlike the normal reincarnation process.
One day, Dorji Phagmo (Vajravārāhī) appeared in person before Lama Gyalwa Shacha Rabgay and gave these command-instructions, “If you go to Bumthang in central Bhutan, you will come across a claw-print of a pigeon on a fragment of rock that resides on a mountain which looks like a five-pronged Vajra. Below that you will find a flat area and a spirit lake or La-Tsho of Pelden Duedsoel Lhamo (Mahakali). If you successfully build a monastery there, it would benefit many future sentient beings.” Lama Gyalwa Shacha Rabgay, marking the command as an auspicious sign, then went to Bumthang where he indeed found the fragment of rock bearing the claw-print of a pigeon in a forest North of the present location of the Dorjitse monastery.
He stepped on it, placed his right foot before the footprint of the pigeon and prayed, “If I could benefit the sentient beings by building a monastery here, let my footprint be imprinted on this rock.” No sooner had he said this, there appeared a vivid print of his right foot. Thus, signifying his prophecy of benefiting the sentient beings, he built a monastery in the plain area below this rock, in the late 12th century. Vajravarahi then gave the name ‘Dorji Gyaltshen’ for the monastery (Victory banner of Vajra), which later came to be known as Dorjitse monastery.
Pelden Duedsoel Lhamo is the protective deity of the monastery as well as lineage of the successive reincarnations of Gyalsey Darma Dodey. The La-Tsho or the spirit lake of Pelden Duedsoel Lhamo located near this monastery miraculously dries up when every reincarnation of Darma Dode passes away but it appears again whenever a new reincarnation is born.