Menchu or medicinal (mineral) springs are naturally occurring springs that produce water rich in dissolved minerals, salts, and gases. It is believed that great Buddhist masters like Guru Rimpoche have blessed the medicinal waters or mineral springs. Many important religious sites in Bhutan have a medicinal or mineral spring extracted by the founder of the place. Bhutanese people have long used Menchu as a spiritual blessing and for bathing.
A medicinal water or mineral spring is called Menchu in Bhutan. Bhutan has 17 medicinal or mineral springs (Menchhu), 10 hot springs (Tshachu), and 17 holy spring waters (Drupchhu). These spring waters are considered the most popular and spiritually significant in Bhutan.
The Bhutanese have used it for generations to drink or wash in the water of these springs. It is equally popular as hot springs and has many claimed medicinal benefits. However, the Menchus are collected in wooden bathtubs and warmed by heated stone before dipping in the medicinal spring water. The bathtub is generally fixed and available at the site.
Bhutanese Beliefs on Menchu or Medicinal (mineral) Springs
There are 17 medicinal springs distributed all over Bhutan ranging from an altitude of 870 to 3365 masl. A common folk belief is that medicinal spring emerges from the ground due to the asceticism and blessings of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
These spring waters are believed to have been extracted by a spiritual master using his or her power to perform miracles. Medicinal spring waters are believed to have been miraculously unearthed by enlightened beings.
Thus, Bhutanese believe that medicinal springs are very sacred and that they can cure many diseases. Mineral springs possess both purging and healing powers. There is a belief among the Bhutanese that the stronger the smell, the better is its medicinal value.
Medicinal (mineral) Springs in Bhutan
- Aja Menchu
- Baykan Menchu
- Bharab Menchu
- Bjagay Menchu, Gasa
- Bjagay Menchu, Paro
- Chethgang Menchu
- Dangchu-Wangchu Menchu
- Dangkhar Menchu
- Dhonphangma Menchu
- Dobji Menchu or Milarepa’s Menchu
- Drakchu Menchu or Draagchu Menchu
- Kabisa Menchu
- Khabtey Menchu
- Loyee Menchu
- Mage-Phenday Menchu
- Menchugang Pho-Mo Menchu
- Tokay Menchu
Organoleptic Properties of Medicinal (mineral) Springs
Medicinal waters or mineral springs (Menchu) in Bhutan are known for their unique organoleptic properties. Most mineral springs possess a characteristic rotten egg or sulfurous odor due to the hydrogen sulfide gas (colorless water-soluble gas). However, some have different odors. For example, Baykan Menchu in Choekor Gewog of Bumthang Dzongkhag has a rock salt odor.
The mineral springs are often associated with reddish-brown or yellowish-colored water sources or sites, likely due to the high mineral content. Bharab Menchu in Dungkar Gewog of Lhuntse Dzongkhag has a peacock feather color. Kabisa Menchu in Kawang Gewog under Thimphu Dzongkhag is darkish in color and heavy in nature while Dangchu-Wangchu Menchu in Dangchu Gewog of Wangdue Phodrang Dzongkhag is sky blue. Bjagay Menchu and Tokay Menchu in Khatoe Gewog under Gasa are light while Loyee Menchu is inhabited by green algae, and is dense and heavy.
The mineral springs can have a variety of tastes, including sour, bitter, sweet, and mixed flavors, depending on their specific chemical and mineral composition. Bharab Menchu, Kabisa Menchu, Loyee Menchu, and Dangchu-Wangchu Menchu are sweet and sour while Bjagay Menchu of Gasa and Tokay Menchu are only sour. Dobji or Milarepa’s Menchu in Dokar Gewog of Paro Dzongkhag tastes like normal drinking water.
The organoleptic properties of Aja Menchu, Bjagay Menchu of Paro, Chethgang Menchu, Dangkhar Menchu, Dhonphangma Menchu, Drakchu Menchu, Khabtey Menchu, Mage-phenday Menchu, Menchugang Pho-Mo Menchu are not available.
Types of Natural Menchu or Medicinal (mineral) Springs
The Menchu or mineral spring water is categorized into five types exclusively based on diseases they can cure:
- Menchu that heals wind disorders (rlung sel-ba’i sman-chu),
- Mineral spring that heals bile disorders (mkhris-pa sel-ba’i sman-chu),
- Medicinal water that heals phlegm disorders (bad-kan sel-ba’i sman-chu),
- Mineral spring that heals blood disorders (khrag sel-ba’i sman-chu), and
- Menchu that heals wounds (chu-ser sel-ba’i sman-chu).
Chemical Compositions of Menchu or Medicinal (mineral) Springs
According to the traditional health care services known as Bhutanese Sowa Rigpa medicine, the mineral or medicinal springs contain either sulfur (mu-zi), calcium carbonate (cong-zhi), mineral pitch (brag-zhun), iron oxide/limonite (sindhu-ra), or the mixture of these components.
However, there haven’t been any scientific geochemical investigations to measure their mineral concentration.
Ethnopharmacological Benefits of Menchu or Medicinal (mineral) Springs
Bathing in mineral 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.
The common ethnopharmacological uses of Menchu or medicinal springs are to cure diseases and ailments. For instance, the popular mineral spring water, Kabisa Menchu, has been long used by people for treating conditions such as migraine, headaches, sinusitis, stomach inflammation (ulcer), backache, fracture, sprain, joint pain, gout, arthritis, abscesses, and skin diseases.
Kabisa Menchu and Bharab Menchu are beneficial, especially for women suffering from delivery complications and recovering from maternity sickness.
Aja Menchu is believed to cure 18 different types of diseases (nad-rigs bco-rgyad in Sowa rigpa) including tuberculosis, body aches, ulcers, and whooping cough. The Dangchu-Wangchu Menchu is believed to be useful for 13 different types of diseases known as gNey- Rig-Chusum.
Also Read: Aja Ney, a Sacred Site of a Hundred Inscriptions of the Syllable ‘Aa’
Drinking Loyee Menchu is beneficial for persons suffering from asthma and tuberculosis while drinking Bharab Menchu is known for healing combined diseases of wind and defective bile, arthritis, body aches, and tuberculosis. Bharab Menchú and Khabtey Menchu are the only warm mineral springs.
The hot stone bath with Ura Drakchu Menchu benefits people suffering from arthritis, stomachaches, skin diseases, and eye disorders. At the same time, the Chethgang Menchu and Khabtey Menchu are known for healing arthritis, backaches, body aches, fever, and joint pains.
Gasa Bjagay Menchu is believed to cure arthritis and joint pains while Paro Bjagay Menchu is commonly used to treat fractures, ulcers, cardiac diseases, physical wounds, and arthritis. The Baykan Menchu and Gasa Bjagay Menchu are useful for phlegm and bile disorders.
Dangkhar Menchu effectively cures headaches, hemorrhoids, tetanus, swollen limbs, joint pains, tuberculosis, and ulcers. At the same time, Dhonphangma Menchu is specifically beneficial to people suffering from dizziness and headaches.
Tokay Menchu effectively cures phlegm, headaches, blood disorders, gastritis, and stomachaches. At the same time, Dobji or Milarepa’s Menchu heals fractures, diseases induced by colds, dyspepsia, blood pressure, backache, urinary tract infections, food poisoning, ulcers, and diabetes. Currently, the Menchu is famous for curing cancers.
Mage-Phenday Menchu cures sore infections, inflamed wounds, and other skin diseases. Menchugang Pho-Mo Menchu is useful for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and severe dermal disorders such as scabies and leprosy.
Best Time to Visit Menchu or Medicinal (mineral) Springs
Before going to a hot spring, people 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 Menchu or medicinal (mineral) spring water is in winter or spring. The culture of Menchu bathing thrives in Bhutan today and has better facilities.
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