Bhutan - A brief introduction

Located in the Eastern Himalayas, The Kingdom of Bhutan, or in Bhutanese, Druk Yul, is often revered as the “ Land of the Thunder Dragon “ as well as the “ Last Shangri-La” in the Himalayan region. Its serenity, awe-inspiring mountain terrain, varied flora and fauna and unique Buddhist monasteries makes it one of the most beautiful cultural country in Asia. With a small population of approximately 700,000 people, the two main population groups in Bhutan are, the Dukpa (67%) of the Tibetan and Monpa origin and Lhotsampa (30%) of the Nepalese origin. The remaining 3% comprises of indigenous groups such as Toktop, Doya and Lepcha. The capital of the country is a city called Thimpu and it is purely a Buddhist kingdom.

Similar to Singapore, the monsoon in Bhutan starts in mid June and last till the end of September. However, as Bhutan is spread across mountainous terrains, the climate of mid-mountain belt varies; such that low-lying parts of the country have cool winter and hot summer, whereas the higher valleys have temperate climate with cold snowy winters and cooler summer. The foothills which are called Duars experience high humidity and heavy rainfall instead of seasonal weathers.

The national currency of Bhutan is Ngultrum (Nu); and by today’s currency exchange rate, 1 Singapore dollar is equal to Nu 31.90. There is no ATM machines in Bhutan but however, major shopping centres accept credit cards as a mode of payment.

Bhutan - Culture & Tradtion

“ Culture - a multidimensional term, one that encompasses both the tangible: buildings and artefacts, and the intangible: values & attitudes”

As per definition, what defines a country’s culture is based on their tangible and intangible assets. It is not built up within day, but instead shaped by a country’s unique tradition and beliefs that was created by the people. In the case of Bhutan, their culture mostly revolves around their religion (Tibetan Buddhism) and their architecture.

Tangible :

Houses

Traditionally, Bhutanese houses are made out of mud, bamboo, and wood. The doors and windows of Bhutanese houses are decorated with animal, religious, or floral designs. The houses usually consist of three stories. The cattle and other animals of the house reside on the ground floor, the second floor is for storage, and on the third floor are the living quarters, which often also have the shrine (i.e. Chosum). Hay, dry vegetables and meat are stored in the open-air between the third floor and the roof. The most important feature of Bhutanese houses is the prayer flag placed in the centre of the roof. This is a sign that the Bhutanese are very religious people and carry the Buddhism faith.

Bhutanese Dress

The traditional dress of Bhutan is one of the most unique in the world. Men wear gho, a long robe that is raised till knee, folded backwards and then tied around the waist by kera, a belt. Traditionally, the pouch formed above the waist is used for carrying bowl, money and doma (areca nut and betal leaf eaten with a dash of lime). The women wear a "kira," which is an ankle-length dress worn with a short jacket. Both men and women also wear scarves, which are an important part of the tradition of the Bhutanese people. Men wear a kabney, which is worn on all formal visits to a Dzong or to an office. The color of the kabney identifies the rank of the individual. The King wears yellow, ministers wear orange, Judges wear green and common people wear white. Women wear a rachu. This is hung over the shoulder and is hand-woven with fringe on the end. Both the kabney and the rachu are beautiful scarves that are indicative of the talent and skill of Bhutanese weavers. In order to preserve this ancient dressing tradition from being influenced by the West, the Bhutanese government has made it compulsory for all Bhutanese to wear only their national dress in public.

Food and Drink

Like Singaporeans, the people of Bhutan enjoys spicy food. Most of the Traditional Bhutanese food is spicy as it features red and green chillies. Bhutan national dish is a chilli and cheese combination called the ema datsi. Most restaurants serve both meat and vegetarian dishes, while some cater to vegetarians exclusively. Indian meals are also available in many restaurants. However, what I felt was most interesting in this aspect is that the sale of liquor is available every day except Tuesday, which is Bhutan’s dry day. This, in my opinion, again showcase the amount of emphasis Bhutan place on religion as they made Tuesday a non-alcoholic day. Similar to Singapore, the legal drinking age is 18 years old in Bhutan.

Intangible :

Religion

Religion and spirituality play a very important role in the culture of Bhutan. Everything from architecture to the arts to eating habits are influenced by their religion - The Tantric form of Mahayana Buddhism. An example of their deep worship towards religion is that before eating, the diners would have to toss some morsels of rice in the air as offering to the deities and spirits. Also, villages in Bhutan are strewn with magnificent temples and religious structures, which are present along the roads and trails. One can also see many prayer flags on the hills and high passes as well, which again signifies the importance of religion to the country. Almost every home in Bhutan has a special area called a chosum, which is a small shrine, or a special room used for prayers.

Traditional Beliefs

Bhutanese have very traditional practices when dealing with the 3 stages of life – birth, marriage and death. They adopt their own brand of attitude and beliefs when going through these 3 stages and incorporated a large amount of religious acts into them.

• Birth – When a new child is born , the outsiders, normally, do not visit the child for the first three days as the house is considered polluted by kaydrip (defilement by birth). Thus, a purification ritual (Lhabsang) is conducted in the house, after which the outsiders will then be welcomed to see the new born baby. Gifts are brought for the newborn and the mother and it ranges from rice and dairy products in the rural places to clothes and money in the urban. Furthermore, the child is not immediately named after his/her birth. It will be given by a religious person when the child is brought to the temple of the local deity (natal deity) and the name will generally be associated with the deity. Also, the culture of celebrating birthdays did not exist in the past. However, it has now become popular especially amongst the town and city dwellers.

• Marriage - Arranged marriages were popular just a few decades back. Normally, people married among the relatives. For instance, particularly in eastern Bhutan, cross-cousin marriage was a popular tradition. This is now becoming unpopular among the literate mass and most of the marriages take place based on their own choice. Wedding ceremonies are also conducted simply, whereby A small ritual is performed by either a monk or a religious leader. After the wedding, it is the culture and tradition for the wives in Eastern and Southern Bhutan to go and live in the husband’s house while in Western Bhutan, it is the opposite.

• Funeral: Death is considered the most expensive affair in Bhutan as it does not mean the end for the deceased. On the contrary, the Bhutanese believes that the deceased are merely passing on to another life. Thus many rituals are performed to help the departed soul get a better rebirth. Rituals are performed after the 7th day, 14th day, 21st day and the 49th days of the death and more elaborately on the death anniversary for three consecutive years with erection of prayer flags in the name of the deceased. The relatives and locals come with alcohol, rice, or other sundry items to attend these rituals.

Bhutan - Indigenous groups

There are four major ethnic groups or groupings in Bhutan: Bhutia/Buotias, Sharchops, a cluster of indigenous groups, and Nepali. The Buotias account for approximately half of the country’s population while indigenous tribal people account for approximately 15% of the population.

These clusters of small, indigenous ethnic groups, such as the Lepcha, are scattered throughout Bhutan. The strongest concentration inhabits the narrow fringe of the Duars (floodplains or foothills) in the southern foothills near the Indian border. These people are ethnically related to groups in the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal. They speak Indo-Aryan languages and follow Hinduism instead of the widely popular faith of Bhutan – Buddhism. Their main source of livelihood comes from wet-rice and dry-rice agriculture. Also, it is known that some of these indigenous people are actually descendants of slaves who are brought to Bhutan from similar tribal areas in India.

Bhutan - Language of the country

Two most spoken languages of Bhutan are Dzongkha and Nepali. Dzongkha, which is the national language of Bhutan, is spoken in most parts of Bhutan, while Nepal is mainly used by the people of southern region, for most of them have their roots Nepal. However, as there are different valleys in Bhutan that are isolated from each other by torrential rivers and deep gorges, many of these valleys developed their own dialect. Some examples of these dialects and or languages spoken are Assamese, Limbu, Santali, Sherpa, Assamese, Gurung, Western Gurung and Eastern Magar.

The national language ( Dzongkhan), which is spoken by about 130,000 people in Bhutan, is a Sino-Tibetan language which is quite closely related to Tibetan and distantly related to Chinese. To give an example of how the Dzongkhan looks like in writing, the diagram below showcases consonants that are used to write most of the common words in Dzongkha :

In addition to the writing, I feel that to gain further insight into Bhutan’s culture, it is important to learn some of the simple sentences in their national language and the way to pronounce it. Hence, listed below are sentences spoken in Dzongkha which I feel are important when travelling to Bhutan :

1) Hello (or greetings). Kuzu Zangpo.

2) How are you? Ga de bay ye?

3) Where is the toilet? Chhabsang ga ti mo?

4) How much is the cost of this item? Di gi gong ga dem chi mo?

However, as globalization continues to spread rapidly around the world, the use of the English language is now more important than ever. According to research, more than 20% of the world’s population speak the English language. Hence, in order to cope with globalization, more emphasis is being place on the English language in Bhutan as well. In Bhutan, most people that are related to the tourism industry can understand and speak English. In schools too, English is used to teach subjects such as mathematics, science and geography. Because of this, I am of the opinion that English has taken precedence over Dzongkha in terms of students' interest and their literacy. With that said, it is important to note that the study of Dzongkha is still compulsory in all schools of Bhutan. This, in my opinion, is done in order to maintain the culture of the country from being “over-diluted” by globalization. In addition, I feel that it is also interesting to know that many sounds in Dzongkha language do not have a match in the English language. Hence, it is difficult to write the exact pronunciation in English.

Bhutan - Mode of Education

Prior to the 1960s, education was provided only by monasteries and religious leaders. Due to the impacts of globalisation, a modern, or ‘westernised’ style, of educational system was introduced in Bhutan after 1960. In the interim, more than 340 schools and institutions of higher education have been established, including over 150 community schools to serve remote rural areas. However, many of these schools have no sanitation facilities, electricity, or drinking water, and students may have to walk several hours a day to get to them. A growing number of children in Bhutan are attending school, but over 50% still do not attend. This is because unlike Singapore, education is not compulsory in Bhutan.

The educational system of Bhutan consists of seven years of primary schooling followed by four years of secondary school. The objective of the primary education in Bhutan is not only to equip the students with basic literacy and numeracy skills but also to impart knowledge of the country's history, geography and traditions. In addition, the functional skills such as fundamentals of agriculture, health and hygiene and population education have also been incorporated in the primary school curriculum. As mentioned, the language used to teach these subject is English.

The minimum official entry age into the formal education system is 6 at the Pre-Primary (PP) class. Primary schooling (PP-VI) is provided in the community primary, primary, lower secondary and in some of the middle secondary schools. At the end of Primary education, students appear for the national level All Bhutan Class Six Examinations conducted by the individual schools. The question papers are still prepared by the Bhutan Board of Examinations. Similar to Singapore, a Ministry of Education take charges of all education matters within Bhutan.

To sum up, I would like to give my two cents worth on the education system of Bhutan. I feel that although Bhutan is a ‘victim’ of globalization in terms of education-wise, they are still doing their best to preserve their nation’s culture by providing traditional monastic education to the public. Also, it is my opinion that there is a low percentage of children attending school because most of their parents are also not educated. Unlike Singapore and other first world countries, it is not Bhutan’s culture whereby a high education means good job prospect. Hence, most parents would rather keep their children at home and save on school fees and miscellaneous school-related fees.

Bhutan - Festivals & Sports

Tshechu

One of the most celebrated festivals in the Bhutanese calendar is the Tshechu which takes place on auspicious days all year-round. Tshechu is a mask dance festival to commemorate the events in the life of Guru Rinpochoe, who is revered as the second Buddha in Bhutan. The main highlight of the Tshechu is the performance of the masked dances by the monks. It is performed in all the Dzongs and in many monasteries and temples spread throughout Bhutan. During the event, there is also a display of Thongdrol; which are large scroll paintings of deities and saints which the people believes have powers to liberate them from sins that they had committed, just by looking at it.

The Tshechu is considered to be Bhutan’s most common traditional event and draws people from all walks of life to participate and witness. It is extremely popular with western tourists as it gives an authentic and flavourful insight into Bhutan’s cultural and religious extravaganza. Not only that, this festival also serves as a platform for social get-together and the locals will wear their finest clothes and jewelleries when attending. Again, I feel that the Tshechu highlights the importance on religious influence over the culture of Bhutan as it showcases their Buddhism faith during the festival.

Archery

Archery in Bhutan is considered by the Bhutanese as their national sport. However, if you ask any locals, they would have the opinion that archery is more than a sport to them. To them, it is a living example and a dynamic manifestation of the unique culture and traditions of Bhutan. Each village has its own archery range and hence, it is easy to imagine how well-liked the game is to the Bhutanese. Once a week, village teams will compete against each other in rowdy, elaborate, multi-day tournaments that are as much about spectacle as they are about hitting a target. Archers can use almost any means at their disposal to distract or demoralize their opponents, including dancing in front of the targets. Hence, I feel that a major part of this game goes on behind the scenes, as teams conspire to throw off their opponents’ game. It is this, rather than what I typically think of as team interaction, that gives Bhutanese archery such popularity.

As Bhutan is a country deep in religious beliefs, the bow and arrow can only be used for play. In fact, when making arrows, one can use only feathers that were found on the ground; to kill a bird to obtain its feathers would be considered wrong. Also, sticking very closely to their culture, they have forgo the use of modernised bow but instead rely on the traditional hand-carved bamboo bows.

Bhutan - What is it known for?

First and foremost, Bhutan is known for its sovereignty . Although the country adopt a constitutional monarchy system, its head of state is addressed as the King of Bhutan or in Bhutanese term, Druk Gyaplo which translates to Dragon King in English. Although this sovereignty could be passed down among family members of the royal blood, the King’s position could be removed by a two-thirds majority vote from the parliament. Also, as Bhutan is a very religious country, they have a religious officer called Je Khenpo that is typically viewed as the closest and most powerful advisor to the King of Bhutan. Currently, the Je Khenpo is Trulku Jigme Chhoeda.

King of Bhutan :

Je Khenpo :

Secondly, Bhutan is also known for having the smallest economy in the world. It is heavily based on agriculture and forestry and is responsible for the livelihood of more than 60% of the population. However, thanks to globalisation and its impact on technology, Bhutan is now able to communicate with the rest of the world. Although the economy is small, the people take their happiness level seriously. On the “World Map of Happiness”, Bhutan came in 8^th position.

Thirdly, Bhutan is also known for its exceptional natural beauty and unique, fascinating culture. The people of Bhutan are known for their vibrant and lively lifestyle and warm hospitality. Often referred to as "the living museum" of the world, Bhutan is famous for its well-preserved historical cities and ruins, Dzongs (Fortress) with their remarkable architectural style, Buddhist monasteries and temples etc. They are one of the rare countries that emphasis a lot on the preservation of their natural culture and tradition and at the same welcoming tourist arrival. Hence, many western tourists love to visit Bhutan to gain an insight into their exciting culture.

Last but not least, Bhutanese people are known for their extraordinary weaving and crafting skills. With a rich legacy of weaving handed down from one generation to the other, Bhutanese weavers have been able to preserve the centuries old craft in its traditional form. Bhutanese women are also expected to know how to weave and this chore is often interwined with raising a family and farming. Not only that, what is unique in my opinion is that again, the Bhutanese has not choose to ‘surrender’ to globalization and adopt the modernised way of weaving. Instead, they opt to use their traditional methods as they feel it is one of the country’s most important heritage.