Yangyel Lhaden

When you enter Langthel Gewog in Trongsa, any random person you ask knows Ap Tawla. He is a big name in the gewog as a local healer but a fading one as the last indigenous healer from the Monpa community. 

The three villages of Langthel Gewog—Phumzur, Wangling, and Jangbi—are home to the Monpas, believed to be among the earliest settlers of Bhutan. Ap Tawla is from Wangling.

When you actually meet him, the 85-year-old Ap Tawla is not as big as his name and fame. Grey-haired, grey-bearded, and unassuming in a sethra gho with a walking staff, he looks like any other Monpa. But he is not. His physical stature is not as big as his name and fame, but he is bigger than them. 

Ap Tawla has been a local healer for more than half a century. He specialises in treating bone and joint dislocations. 

Despite his age and physical inabilities, he remains strong and carries himself with confidence as he attends to patients who seek his help. Even at odd hours, he opens his door to those in need, never turning away a soul seeking relief. 

Ap Tawla uses local medicinal herbs that grow around the village. He uses a blade to cut wounds open and his knowledge and experience to fix dislocated bones using his experienced hands. He can also treat snake bites by sucking out the poison from the bite wound while ensuring he doesn’t get poisoned himself. Only he knows how it is done. 

“There were around 50 types of medicinal herbs around the village, but there are hardly more than five now,” Ap Tawla says. “The discontinuation of shifting cultivation has caused some of these medicinal plants to disappear, as some grow only when the forest is burnt. Moreover, livestock are eating away the herbs.”

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