Chorten Kora is an important and one of sacred stupa in Bhutan, built in Nepalese style. The stupa was built in the 18th century by Lama Ngawang Lodrö, the nephew of the 13th Je Khenpo (Chief Abbot of Bhutan). His Holiness Yonten Thaye (1771-1775) in order to subdue a harmful demon believed to have been living at the site where the chorten is now located. The stupa is modeled after the famous Boudhanath stupa in Nepal popularly known as Jarung Khashor.

Chorten Kora took 12 years to construct and was supported by the disciples of Lam Ngawang Loday and devotees from Trashiyangtse, Trashigang and Kurtoe valley, and also by people from the neighboring tribal communities of Tawang. It was consecrated by Je Yonten Thaye, the demon that had harmed the people of the valley was apparently subdued and banished. Thereafter, it is said that the people of the valley continue to live in peace and harmony.

The annual Dakpa Kora (circumambulation of the Chorten by the Dakpas) festival held on the 15th of the first lunar month, and a Drukpa Kora (circumambulation of the Chorten by the Bhutanese) festival held at the end of the first lunar month which celebrate the stupa. These festivals are attended by Dakpa people of the neighboring Tawang District of Arunachal Pradesh in India, and Bhutanese from Tashiyangtse, Trashigang, and Kurtoe.

A popular belief is that when the stupa was constructed a pious Dakini princess from neighboring Arunachal Pradesh in India entombed herself within, as the Yeshe Semba, to meditate on behalf of all beings.

Like Gom Kora festival, the Chorten Kora tshechu is also popular for its culture of nightlife which has evolved around the festival. But, according to the local people the tradition had deteriorated with the passage of time and the spiritual significance of the festival had been diluted by commercialism and rowdy youth.

Gom Kora lies in the heart of the agrarian belt of eastern Bhutan, about 23 kilometers from Trashigang Dzong. It is a sacred site where, around 850 AD, Guru Rinpoche subdued an evil spirit, he chased all the way from Lhasa Samye,Tibet. The Kora festival at Gomphu Kora was initiated 400 years ago after the Lhakhang was built by Ngagi Wangchuck and consecrated by Terton Pema Lingpa.

The place comes alive, once every year, when people all over eastern Bhutan descend upon the narrow valley, dressed in fineries, to partake in the festivity, to worship and to reunite themselves with their illustrous past.

So, in just the blink of an eye, the otherwise desolate rock-scarred landscape mushrooms into a town of all shades and colours. Towards dusk, the occupants of these makeshift dwellings join a river of crowd for the clockwise circumambulation of the temple and the rock chanting the omnipotent mantra of Guru Rinpoche. This often lasts till dawn. The Guru attributed to have said that devotees will flock to Gom Kora for eons on to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. There could not be a more accurate prophesy.

The Gomphu Kora Tshechu is one of the biggest festivals in eastern Bhutan providing a welcome break for locals to trade, socialize, and celebrate before the start of the farming season. The festival draws people from remote villages, school children, village youths, businessmen, civil servants, and the Dakpa tribe in of Tawang, neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh (India) who endure days of travel on foot amid rugged environs with entire families in town. Some say that Drakpas have done this for more than a millenium, beginning shortly after Guru Padmasambhava sanctified the place in the 8th century AD.

Traditionally, the festival was an occasion for the people of eastern Bhutan, to choose their spouse and also to rejuvenate the degrading stock.