The legendary Tshongpon Norbu Zangpo and his riding Rhino

Meme Sherab 84, a resident of Bangtsho, Dewathang, narrated the following story for LME students on his visit as a guest speaker to the class. Besides, he talked about barter system, which existed as a common practice of trading within a small village and across wider communities then. Moreover, he shared, that the trade was not only with the exchange of goods, but also services on day to day basis.

Once, the Rhinosaur was believed to be merchant Norbu Zangpo’s riding animal when he travelled for his business in India and Tibet through Bhutan.

One of the routes merchant Zangpo took was via Dewathang to Assam in India. Consequently, today a tall and big tree growing right at the beginning of Dewathang town is his legacy, believed to be from his walking stick and few meters away, is his cooking stove, the tri-stone in a circle.

Those days, all the merchants from Bhutan and Tibet, who took the route, circumambulate the tree and the stove as a sign of respect and devotion for merchant Zangpo. Even to these days, the residents of the town look after the area and offer incense often.

It was believed that one day, as the merchant travelled for his regular business, his riding animal fled away to Manas, the South Central foothills of Bhutan. So, the merchant Zangpo became very angry. Subsequently, it was believed, that he subdued the Rhino and prohibited its entrance to the South East of Bhutan. That is why today, we don’t see any Rhino in the south-east region of Bhutan.

Meme Sherab has asked us to closely study the skin pattern of Rhino. The saddle, which was used by Zangpo on Rhino then, can be seen these days on its skin pattern. It was believed, that the Rhino fled away with the saddle on its back.