Bhutan September 2013
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The question heard most: "Where is Bhutan?
Bhutan's population of 750,000 was ranked 8th happiest in the world by Business Week magazine in 2006.
Bhutannational happiness indexBhutan populationBhutan happiness
Bhutan, with Himalyan peaks in the north, hilly farm country in its mid-section ...
paddy rice culture in the valleys, and sub-tropical plains in the south.
Where the state religion is Buddhism (here, Buddhist nuns)
BhutanBuddismBhutan state religionBhutanese nunsBuddhist nuns
And architecture shows its feudal past. Here is Punakha dzong (fortress). Dzongs now serve usually as government administrative offices and monasteries. The same "blocky' style is seen in residences, particularly farm houses.
Our first stop was at a monastery which includes a school for younger novices and monks. We arrived on what appeared...
BhutanBhutan monasteryBhutan novicesBhutan monksBuddhist monastery
to be a visiting day for families. Here a young novice with his mother.
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A member of one of the visiting families.
Young girls of a visiting family.
Older male relatives wearing traditional dress, a knee length belted robe called a gho, which is required of all men working in government offices or schools and on all formal occasions. The belt is called a kera.
BhutanBhutan male dressghokeraBhutan monasteryBuddhist monastery
A young visitor.
A monk selling Buddhist amulets during the visiting day.
A young novice monk.
Spinning the prayer wheels. The most common mantra on prayer wheels is Om Mani Padme Hum, The first word Om is a sacred syllable found in Indian religions. The word Mani means "jewel" or "bead", Padme is the "lotus flower" (the Buddhist sacred flower), and Hum represents the spirit of enlightenment.
BhutanOm Mani Padme Humprayer wheelOmManiPadmeHumkhorDzongkha
Older monks waiting for the abbott to signal the end of visiting hours.
At what seemed to be the end of the visiting hours the abbott rang the bell for the monks and novices to return for, perhaps, meditation.
Highlights of any trip to Bhutan are tsechus, Buddhist festivals which focus on sacred dances (cham dances). The tradition started hundreds of years ago. This tsechu took place in the small town of Katsho.
The dances are all prescribed, are similar from tsechu to tsechu, and are based on happenings in the lives of famous Buddhist teachers, or are "moral vignettes". We were able to recognize the same dances in the three tsechus we attended - or, at least, the same headpieces.
BhutantsechuthsechuBhutan spiritual dramaBhutan spiritual danceCham dancesKatshoKatsho Bhutan
The dancers are all male and are both monks and laymen. Some of the best dancers are graduates of the Royal Academy of Performing Arts and dance professionally, making the rounds of the larger tsechus in Bhutan.
BhutantsechuthsechuBhutan spiritual dramaBhutan spiritual danceCham dancesKatshoKatsho Bhutan
A comic figure with the same grinning head piece at every tsechu, and the same phallus, is the atsara. Atsara wander around the audience, particularly between dances. With oftentimes off-color jokes the atsara enjoy embarassing their listeners. As one source puts it, "Their apparent vulgarity arises out of their detachment from human feelings like embarrassment, hesitation, and reservation." 'Atsara' stems from the Sanskrit word for holy teacher.
BhutantasaraBhutan phallusSanskrit holy teacherKatshoKatsho Bhutan
An atsara teasing a member of a local song group that performed between dances at the Katsho tsechu.
BhutantsechuthsechuBhutan spiritual dramaBhutan spiritual danceCham dancesKatshoKatsho Bhutan
Part of the audience at the Katsho tsechu.
BhutantsechuthsechuBhutan spiritual dramaBhutan spiritual danceCham dancesKatshoKatsho Bhutan
A dancer in the "Dance of the Stags and Hounds' at the Katsho tsechu.
BhutantsechuthsechuBhutan spiritual dramaBhutan spiritual danceCham dancesKatshoKatsho Bhutandance of stags and hounds
These unique headpieces appeared at Katsho and at tsechus in other towns. I believe they are from the "Dance of the Noblemen and Ladies"
BhutantsechuthsechuBhutan spiritual dramaBhutan spiritual danceCham dancesKatshoKatsho Bhutan
Again, at the Katsho tsechu.
BhutantsechuthsechuBhutan spiritual dramaBhutan spiritual danceCham dancesKatshoKatsho Bhutan
Rapt attention at the Katsho tsechu.
BhutantsechuthsechuBhutan spiritual dramaBhutan spiritual danceCham dancesKatshoKatsho Bhutan
A large banner with a picture of the King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who began his reign in December 2006 when his father abdicated. Shown here with his wife, Jetsom, whom he married in 2011.
The rice crop in Bhutan is close to harvest in September. Both white and red rice are grown.
Prayer flags, showing their age, are common in the fields near farm houses.
The kitchen of a farm house.
Some rice harvesting had begun.
