Bhutan - The Dragon Kingdom
The
splendour of the Himalaya with an emerald edge. Bhutan is
home to rolling hills all shades of green as well as looming
masses of snow, ice, and stone. Imagine a country the size
of Switzerland where the climate and landscape range from
subtropical to high altitude, rich with all manner of flora
and fauna. As lovely the physical aspect is of Bhutan, its
cultural and historical legacy is equally compelling. There
is stunning traditional architecture of wood, stone, and
brightly-coloured paint, especially in the old monasteries
and forts, or dzong, that protected various parts of
Bhutan from Tibetan and Indian invasions and now serve as
the seats of authority of administration as well as the
prevelant Mahayana Buddhism. It's a misconception that
Bhutan and its religion are mere reflections of Tibet. In
truth, its geography and history of even more extreme, but
carefully calibrated isolation make it truly unique. Its
polygamous Eton-educated monarch extols the virtues of
thinking of development in terms of Gross National Happiness
rather than GDP, and only allowed television into the
country a few years ago. Its numerous highly-educated
citizens are still required to wear traditional dress for
everyday official and professional purposes, and all the old
festivals and arts and crafts, such as weaving and woodwork
still hold sway over ordinary folk. Bhutan is the only
country of its kind left in the world, and one that no more
than 5,000 visitors a year can experience.
A
quick historical background
Like
with Tibet, for most people the history of Bhutan 'really
begins' after the introduction of Buddhism there in the 7th century
by Padmasambhava who brought this already centuries-old
religion from India. This has as much to do with the
prevelance of oral history up to this point as the fact that
there was no one central authority that defined 'Bhutan' as
such; rather, there were a series of independent valleys
ruled by feudal masters. Mahayana Buddhism's Kargyupa school
became increasingly widely accepted by the denizens of these
various valleys, and slowly political and administrative
power shifted from being the exclusive reserve of feudal
lords, to being shared between them and the monasteries and
monks of what has come to be called Drukpa Buddhism. In the
early 17th century
a Drukpa monk called Ngwang Namgyal managed to pull together
various aristocratic and feudal families from all over what
is now Bhutan in support of his proposed theocratic
government. The cornerstone of this system was the division
of powers between two rulers, one responsible for the
spiritual matters of the country, and the other for the
civil. An ill-advised pact between the spiritual head and
the British East India Company brought to head various
rivalries that had been simmering under the surface, and
after a lot of wrangling and intrigue, finally in 1907, a
new, single monarch came to power assuming all
responsibility. Urgyen Wangchuk's great-grandson, Jigme
Singye Wangchuk is now king of Bhutan. Amid considerable
continuing controversy over the expelling of over 100,000
Bhutanese of Nepali origin in 1990, in 2003 the king put
forth a controlled gradual form of village-level democracy.
There are interesting times ahead, given the very cautious
modernisation of many aspects of Bhutanese life, the
traditional acceptance for divided forms of government, the
refugee situation, and the new 'democratic' experiment
Geography
Bhutan is a little landlocked country,just about the size
of Switzerland. Small as it is, Bhutan is home to five
climatic zones - the tropical, subtropical, temperate,
sub-alpine, and alpine. It is bounded by Tibet on the north,
and various Indian states - West Bengal and Assam to the
south, and Arunachal Pradesh eastwards. In Bhutan the snow
peaks and alpine meadows give way to thickly forested hills
and ravines, which in turn give way to a small - 5-8 km wide
- strip of plains, part mangrove swamp, part permanent rice
fields, called the Dooars. Bhutan is home to the sacred
Chomolhari mountain (7,300 m).
Weather
While the summers are never blazing, temperatures in the
lower reaches of the Dooars, can go up into the high-20s
(Centigrade). Around Paro and Thimphu the lows in winter are
around 0 (C), while higher up it can be considerably below
freezing in the winter. The monsoon runs from June through
September.
People and language
Bhutanese society, once pastoral and nomadic, is now largely
(90%) agricultural. The hill farmers live in the temperate
central valleys, where there is access to good sources of
water and many hillsides to terrace.There are three main
ethnic/ linguistic groups in Bhutan: the Ngalongs from the
western and central parts of the country consider themsleves
descendants of 9th century
Tibetan immigrants, and are the most influential group in
religion and politics; the indigeneous Sharchops in eastern
Bhutan: and the southern Bhutanese Lhotsampa, people of
Nepali descent of many different ethnicities, castes, and
religions, descendants of workers brought in in the late 19th century
to develop the southern part of the country. Since the
expulsion of a large majority of the Nepali-speaking
Bhutanese in 1990, the population of Bhutan is at 600,000.
The
national language is Dzongkha, which is related to Tibetan.
The Ngalongs and Sharchops speak Tibet-Burman languages,
while the Lhotsampas speak Nepali as their mother
tongue. Hindi is also widely spoken in Bhutan.
Religion and festivals
Prayer flags fluttering against a blue sky and verdant
rolling hills, and gnarled hands spinning prayer wheels -
this really is the most obvious manifestation of Drukpa
Buddhism. Then come the monasteries with their elaborate
thangka, frescoes, and murals, their elaborate
brightly-painted woodwork, and intricate statuary. The
festivals are a visual, aural, and theatrical delight with
deep horns and gongs, chanting, masks, and dances.
The
most distinctive of Bhutanese festivities is the tsechu,
or masked dance. Differents villages and towns celebrate
their tsechu at different times of the year. People walk
for miles to attend these revelries and watch the masked
dancers tell stories of historical or religious
significance, such as how Buddhism was brought to Bhutan, or
the triumph of good over evil. They exchange news and dress
up, and reaffirm their commitment to their faith and their
community.
The
arts, architecture and culture
There is plenty of art and architecture, music and dance in
Bhutan, but the most sophisticated art form here is the
weaving tradition. The fabrics of Bhutan, all handwoven
according to a multitude of traditional regional patterns as
well s innovations, are stunning. There have been exhibits
at the Smithsonian and other major Western museums, and some
of the older samples are virtual national treasures. The
wood carvings, murals and frescoes in the dzong and
monasteries, as well as the thangka are sublime
examples of how religious art can display both brilliant
craftsmanship, as well as intricate systems of iconography.
Thangka uses pre-determined symbols and figures to
tell various stories about the life of the Buddha and his
many manifestations. Ideally the paints used are of a deep,
dull sheen and made from stone and other natural materials.
There's a whole set of conventions ruling the traditional
consutruction of palaces, temples, and gardens, as also the
lovely coloured furniture that you also see in Lhasa and
Kathmandu, usually in specialty shops.
Flora and fauna
In
the more tropical parts of the country there are many
varieties of bamboo, as well as the golden langur monkey,
tiger, elephant, rhino, and bison. Higher up are the
obligatory yak and blue sheep, as well as the shy and
endangered snow leopard. Bhutan has an enornmous number of
different butterfly types, making it heaven for a TKTK.
The
Bhutanese flora is a delight - over 600 kinds of orchids, a
few hundred of medicinal herbs, and some 50 rhododendrons.
Not to mention, naturally,
Food and drink
Bhutanese food is, quite simply, delicious. It's also very
heavy on fresh, vitamin C-loaded, and spicy green chilli.
But don't worry - as a traveller you won't be expected to
scarf down all your food loaded with heat; chefs at hotels,
and cooks on tented treks are no strangers to catrering to
far milder palates. Bhutan is known for its delicious ema
datshi and kawa datshi, mushroom and potato
respectively in a thin, slightly tangy, fresh-smelling
cheese sauce. The cheese itself is the freshest farmer's
cheese, available at all the farmer's market at every city,
town, and village. These dishes are eaten with the fragrant,
unique Bhutanese 'red' rice that is more like a shiny pink
when uncooked. Bhutanese love vegetables, as they do pork
cooked in many ways. They have in common with Tibetans the
butter tea - yak butter mixed in with brick tea to create a
liquid that is savory, almost soupy, and very very buttery.
Other preparations include the famous steamed or fried
stuffed ravioli called momo and a savory
stuffed griddle bread called shabhalay.
