Tourists can enter the monastery , as long as your guide has arranged the standard permit in advance. Bags, phones and cameras have to be deposited at the entrance, where you must register with the army.
As you enter the complex you pass underneath images of the Rigsum Goempo (Jampelyang, Chenresig and Chana Dorje). Look to the right for the relic stone; Bhutanese stand on the starting line, close their eyes and try to put their thumb into a small hole in the rock as a form of karmic test.
Most groups then visit the Dubkhang (Pelphu Lhakhang), the cave where Guru Rinpoche meditated for three months. Outside the cave is a statue of Dorje Drolo, the manifestation the Guru assumed to fly to Taktshang on a tigress. The inner cave is sealed off behind a spectacularly gilded door. Murals of Guru Tshengye, the eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche, decorate the walls. Behind you, sitting above the inside of the main entrance, is a mural of Thangtong Gyalpo holding his iron chains.
From here ascend to the Guru Sungjem Lhakhang , which has a central image of Pema Jungme, another of the eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche. This statue replaced a famous 'talking' image that was lost in the 1998 fire. Various demonic animal-headed deities and manifestations of the deity Phurba decorate the walls, while outside is an image of the protector Tseringma riding a snow lion.
The next chapel on the left has connections to Dorje Phagmo, with a rock image of the goddess' crown hidden in a hole in the floor. The inner chorten belongs to Langchen Pelgye Tsengay, a 9th-century disciple of Guru Rinpoche, who meditated in the cave. Behind the chorten is a holy spring.
Further on inside the complex, to the left, is the Drole Lhakhang, where the monks hand out sungke (blessed threads), while to the right is the Guru Tsengye Lhakhang , which features an image of the monastery's 17th-century founder, Gyelse Tenzin Rabgay. Ask a monk to show you the trap door! Further up is a butter lamp chapel (light one for a donation of Nu 20). You can also peer into the original Tiger's Nest cave just above the chapel but it's too dangerous to climb down into.
After visiting the Tiger's Nest and reascending to the previous viewpoint, it is possible to take a signed side trail uphill for 15 minutes to the Machig-phu Lhakhang , where Bhutanese pilgrims come to pray for children. Head to the cave behind the chapel and select the image of the Tibetan saint Machig Labdron on the right (for a baby girl), or the penis print on the cave wall to the left (for a boy). The main statues inside the chapel are of Machig and her husband Padampa Sangye.
