Changangkha Lhakhang (Dzongkha: ལྕང་བསྒང་ཁ་ལྷ་ཁང་) stands at the tip of a ridgeline in Thimphu (ཐིམ་ཕུ), Bhutan. Founded in the 13th or 14th centuries, Changangkha Lhakhang ranks among the oldest surviving temples in Bhutan.
A prayer wheel is a cylindrical wheel (འཁོར་ལོ།) on a spindle made from metal, wood, stone, leather, or coarse cotton. Traditionally, a mantra is written in Tibetan language, on the outside of the wheel.
Changangkha Lhakhang was founded in the 13th century by Nyima, one of the sons of Phajo Drugom Zhigpo (ཕ་ཇོ་འབྲུག་སྒོམ་ཞིག་པོ) who first introduced the teachings of the Drukpa Kagyu (འབྲུག་པ་བཀའ་བརྒྱུད) tradition of Himalayan Buddhism to Bhutan.
The main components and foundations of the monastery are extremely old, long predating the unification of Bhutan in the 17th century by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (ཞབས་དྲུང་ངག་དབང་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་).
Changangkha lhakhang is laid out along the natural ridge, at the end of the ridge are two buildings, the main temple to the east, and a small courtyard, the black Gönkhang (མགོན་ ཁང་ །; protective deities temple) to the west.
Changangkha Lhakhang is often frequented by parents looking to obtain blessings from Tamdrin, a protective deity.
Behind the main temple, there are paths descending into the valley towards Thimphu town, where you can see many small stupas or chöten around.
