Tshachu or Hot springs are natural springs of geothermally heated groundwater that emerge onto the Earth’s surface. They are formed when water is heated by shallow bodies of magma or by circulation through faults to hot rock deep in the Earth’s crust.
The origin of hot springs in Bhutan dates back to 746 AD during the visit of Guru Rinpoche to Bhutan. Because of this, the hot springs are revered and regarded as holy, and as a result, hot springs are typically located in sacred places.
In Bhutan, a hot spring is called Tshachu. Bhutan has 10 hot springs (Tshachu), 17 medicinal water or mineral springs (Menchu), and 17 holy spring water (Drupchhu). They are considered the most popular and spiritually significant spring waters.
The most popular hot springs in Bhutan are the Chuboog hot spring in Punakha; the Koma hot Spring in Lhuntse; the Duenmang hot spring in Zhemgang; the Khempajong nye hot spring in Lhuntse; the Gasa hot spring in Gasa; and Gelephu hot spring in Sarpang.
Bhutanese have used hot springs or Tshachu for generations for relaxation, bathing, and treating various physical illnesses. The traditional winter custom of visiting hot springs reflects how seriously the Bhutanese people take their therapeutic practices.
Bhutanese Beliefs on Hot Spring or Tshachu
The hot springs (Tshachu) are said to have been created by Lord Buddha and Bodhisattvas. The origin of the hot spring is also attributed to Guru Rimpoche’s visit to Bhutan. For the Bhutanese people, these holy water sources, which are found in sacred locations, are immensely significant.
Bhutanese believe that the hot spring can cure all diseases. According to another legend, if a person enters the Tsachu just once in their lifetime, they will not experience rebirth in the three worlds of ” hell (Ngelwa), hungry ghosts (Yidag), or animals (Duedhro)”.
Hot Springs in Bhutan
- Chubu Tshachu
- Dhur Tshachu
- Duenmang Tshachu
- Gasa Tshachu
- Gayza Tshachu
- Gelephu Tshachu
- Khambalung Ney Tshachu
- Koma Tshachu
- Pasalum Tshachu
- Yoenten KuenjungTshachu
Types of Natural Hot Springs
There are two kinds of hot springs: natural (rang-’byung chu-tshan) and artificial (bcos-ma’i chu-tshan). Hot springs are classified into five types depending on their mineral content:
- Hot springs rich in sulfur nativum (mu-zi’i tsha-chu),
- Hot springs rich in sulfur (mu-ljang gi tsha-chu),
- Hot springs rich in lime (rdo-zho’i tsha-chu),
- Water percolating from rocks (rdo-chu’i tsha-chu),
- Hot springs rich in calcite or carbonate mineral (cong-zhi’i tsha-chu).
Natural hot springs are further classified into five types depending on their mineral constituents:
- Hot springs rich in coal and sodium carbonate (rdo-srol dang cong-zhi ’dres-pa las ’byung-ba),
- Hot springs rich in coal and sulfur (rdo-srol dang mu-zi ’dres-pa las ’byung-ba),
- Hot springs rich in coal and mineral pitch (rdo-srol dang brag-zhun ’dres-pa las ’byung-ba),
- Hot springs rich in coal, sodium carbonate and sulfur (rdo-srolcong-zhi dang mu-zigsum ’dres-pa las ’byung-ba), and
- Hot springs rich in coal, sulfur, mineral pitch, and realgar (rdo-srol dang mu-zi brag-zhun ldong-rosbzhi ’dres-pa las ’byung-ba).
Depending upon different minerals in combination, hot springs can also be classified into 101 (chu-tshan brgya-rtsa) different types.
Chemical Compositions of Hot Springs or Tshachu
Bhutan’s hot springs are abundant in limestone, sodium carbonate, sulfur, mineral pitch, and coal, which come in various colors including light blue, blue-black, and white). However, there haven’t been any scientific geochemical investigations to estimate their mineral concentration.
Ethnopharmacological Benefits of Hot Spring or Tshachu
Bathing in hot springs directly helps the skin absorb minerals like calcium, sulfur, iron, magnesium, potassium, silicon dioxide, salt, and fluorine. This can help heal skin diseases including psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Medical Hydrology has long used sulfurous mineral waters to treat various illnesses. More recently, topical applications of sulfurous mineral waters and sulfurous muds (peloids) are beneficial for treating rheumatoid arthritis, hand and knee osteoarthritis, skin conditions, chronic inflammatory diseases, and anxiety in patients suffering from terminal cancer.
The common ethnopharmacological uses of Tshachu or hot springs include the treatment of different diseases and ailments like phlegm diseases, indigestion, stomachache, fevers, joint pains, arthritis, etc. For example, Chuboog Tshachu, Dur Tshachu, Gelephu Tshachu, Gasa Tshachu, Khambalung Ney Tshachu, and Koma Tshachu heal serous fluid associated with cold disorders while Chubu Tshachu, Gasa Tshachu, Khambalung gNey Tshachu, and Koma Tshachu alleviate increasing mucus because of suppressed wind. Apart from these, Koma Tshachu treats bile disorders, dizziness, and defective bile. It is also good for joint pain, chronic tumor, and anal fistula.
Chubo Tshachu, Dur Tshachu, and Khambalung gNey Tshachu help in urinary tract infection and urinary retention caused by stones, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as syphilis and gonorrhea. Khambalung gNey Tshachu helps with bone and tendon disorders, and muscular atrophy.
Additionally, Chuboo Tshachu, Dur Tshachu, Gelephu Tshachu, Khambalung Ney Tshachu, Koma Tshachu, and Duenmang Tshachu cures skin diseases, including scabies. Duenmang Tshachu also cures goiters, joint pain, and tuberculosis. It also removes bodily poisons and alleviates chronic fevers and feelings of lameness in the limbs.
Many Hot springs like Dur Tshachu, Gelephu Tshachu, Khambalung Nye Tshachu, and Duenmang Tshachu alleviate gout, rheumatoid arthritis, and swelling in the joints, fracture, rigidity, or stiffness of the limbs, and large ulcer or sore.
Gayza Tshachu of Gayza village under Gayza Gewog of Gasa Dzongkhag is useful for people suffering from poisoning, conjunctivitis, arthritis, and inflammation.
While Pasalum Tshachu is known to cure thirteen different diseases and ailments, Yoenten Kuenjung Tshachu is the only hot spring believed to be useful for memory disorders.
Research on Hot Springs or Tshachu
A study conducted on the hot springs of Bhutan has classified hot springs based on water temperature as hot-, warm-, tepid-, and cold springs. Only six of the 29 pools from the 10 hot springs are classified as hot springs (temperature, >42 _C). While the majority of pools—18 pools—belong to warm springs (temperature range: 35–42 _C), two pools are classified as tepid springs (temperature range: 25–34 _C), and one pool is classified as cold spring (temperature range: 25 _C).
There are ten hot springs in Bhutan, totaling 29 natural pools, however, only 26 are regularly used by locals and visitors alike. Three further hot springs Laya, Wachi, and Yoenten Kuenjung under the districts of Lhuntse, in the northeast, and Gasa, in the north, respectively, are still untouched.
The top three hot springs in the country are Chubu Tshachu in the Punakha district, Duenmang Tshachu in the Zhemgang district, and Gasa Tshachu in the Gasa district out of ten hot springs. The least frequented hot springs in the country are Yoenten Kuenjung Tshachu in Lhuntse and Gayza Tshachu in Gasa, both of which require a three-hour climb from Laya village.
Only two of the ten hot springs (Gasa Hot Spring and Gelephu Hot Spring) are accessible by motorable roads. The remaining hot springs are up to three days’ hiking away (e.g., Pasalum hot spring in Lhuntse).
The highest number of pools—seven out of 29—is at Dhur Hot Spring in Choekhor Gewog, Bumthang District, Central Bhutan. The two pools in Chubu Tsachu in Punakha District in Western Bhutan, and Yoenten Kuenjung Hot Spring in Lhuntse District in Northeastern Bhutan are the smallest.
Best Time to Visit Hot Spring or Tshachu
Before going to a hot spring, guests consult an astrologer to decide the optimum time to go and to get detailed instructions on how to get the most therapeutic advantages.
Bhutanese believe that the best time to visit hot springs is between the 16th and 30th days of the tenth and eleventh months—in winter—or of the second and third lunar months—in spring. They consider that other cosmo-physical components are least likely to be disturbed during these times, allowing the hot springs to provide maximum therapeutic benefits.
However, it is not advised for women and girls to use the hot springs while they are menstruating. Any unclean behavior is thought to enrage the vengeful guardian deities, who are said to punish such transgressions with unexpected snowfall, torrential downpours of rain mixed with huge hailstones, terrifying lighting, and thunder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there hot springs in Bhutan?
Yes, Bhutan has hot springs.
How many hot springs are in Bhutan?
Bhutan has 10 hot springs (Tshachu).
Best hot springs in Bhutan
The top three hot springs in the country are Chubu Tshachu in the Punakha district, Duenmang Tshachu in the Zhemgang district, and Gasa Tshachu in the Gasa district out of ten hot springs.
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