Fire, water, ice and medicine

Like most names that have different linguistic etymologies, Mechuka is also known as Menchuka with the meanings interestingly different.

In the Memba dialect, Men-chu-ka means medicinal water of snow, where men is medicine, chu means water – streams and rivers and ka means snow. So Menchuka is the land blessed with medicinal snow-fed water.

With Me-chu-ka, me refers to fire. So Mechuka is fire-water-ice.

The Monastery and its masks

Serenity is a given at the 400-year-old Samten Yongcha Monastery of the Mahayana Buddhist sect. The monastery houses numerous ancient statues, including that of Guru Padmasambhava, considered to be the founder of the Nyingma sect.

One of the more vibrant collections at the monastery are the colourful costumes and masks created for folklore figures found in Tibetan mythology. These masks are adorned during the traditional cham dance, which is an energetic and lively event that teaches people to shun all that is dark within them and embrace the good tenets of life according to Buddhism, like compassion and love.