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Bhutanese culture derives from ancient Tibetan culture. Dzongkha and Sharchop , the principal Bhutanese languages, are closely related to Tibetan, and Bhutanese monks read and write the ancient variant of the Tibetan language known as ''chhokey''. Bhutanese are physically similar to the Tibetans but history does not record when they crossed over the Himalayas and settled in the south-draining valleys of Bhutan. Both Tibetans and Bhutanese revere the tantric Guru Padmasambhava the founder of Himalayan Buddhism in the 8th century. RELIGION See Also: Buddhism in Bhutan Bhutanese society is centered around the practice of Tantric Buddhism . Religious beliefs are evidenced in all aspects of life. Prayer Flag s flutter on hillsides offering up prayers to benefit all nearby Sentient beings. Houses each fly a small white flag on the roof indicating the owner has made his offering payments to appease the local god. Each valley or district is dominated by a huge '' Dzong '', or high-walled fortresses, which serves the religious and administrative center of the district. NATIONAL DRESS CODE All Bhutanese citizens are required to observe the national dress code, known as '' Driglam Namzha '', while in public during daylight hours. The rule is enforced more rigorously in some districts (''dzongkhag'') than others. Men wear a heavy knee-length robe tied with a belt, called a '' Gho '', folded in such a way to form a pocket in front of the stomach. Woman wear colorful blouses over which they fold and clasp a large rectangular cloth called a '' Kira '', thereby creating an ankle-length dress. A short silk jacket, or '' Toego '' may be worn over the ''kira''. Everyday ''gho'' and ''kira'' are cotton or wool, according to the season, patterned in simple checks and stripes in earth tones. For special occasions and festivals, colourfully patterned silk ''kira'' and, more rarely, ''gho'' may be worn. Additional rules of protocol apply when visiting a dzong or a temple, or when appearing before a high level official. Male commoners wear a white sash ('' Kabney '') from left shoulder to opposite hip. Local and regional elected officials, government ministers, cabinet members, and the King himself each wear their own colored ''kabney''. Women wear a narrow embroidered cloth draped over the left shoulder, a '' Rachu ''. The dress code has met with some resistance from the ethnic Nepal ese citizens living along the Indian border who resent having to wear a cultural dress which is not their own. MEN AND WOMEN IN SOCIETY Bhutanese women have traditionally had more rights than women in surrounding cultures, the most prominent being the presumptive right of land ownership. The property of each extended Bhutanese family is controlled by an "anchor mother" who is assisted by the other women of the family in running affairs. As she becomes unable to manage the property, the position of anchor mother passes on to a sister, daughter or niece. Men and women work together in the fields, and both may own small shops or businesses. Men take a full part in household management, often cook, and are traditionally the makers and repairers of clothing (but do not weave the fabric). In the towns, a more "western" pattern of family structure is beginning to emerge, with the husband as breadwinner and the wife as home-maker. Both genders may be monks, although in practice the number of female monks is relatively small. Marriages are at the will of either party and divorce is not uncommon. The Marriage Ceremony consists of an exchange of white scarves and the sharing of a cup. Marriages can be officially registered when the couple has lived together for more than six months. Traditionally the groom moves to the bride's family home, but newlyweds may decide to live with either family depending on which household is most in need of labor. BHUTANESE NAMES Except for royal lineages, Bhutanese names do not include a family name. Instead two traditional auspicious names are chosen at birth by the local Lama or by the parents or grandparents of the child. First names generally give no indication if the person is male or female; in some cases the second name may be helpful in that regard. As there is a limited constellation of acceptable names to chose from, inevitably many people share the same combination of first and second names. To resolve the ambiguity an informal nicknaming system comes into play which recognizes where a person is from. If a certain "Chong Kinley" is from Chozom village in the Paro valley, she is called "Paro Kinley" when she is travelling outside the valley. In Paro valley itself she is identified by the name of her village, thus "Chong Kinley Chozom". Surprisingly, multiple children in a small hamlet of a few houses may have the exact same name, reflecting the inspiration of the local lama. In this case, she is identified by the name of the house she was born in, thus "Chemsarpo" Kinley. RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS Once a year a Dzong or important village may hold a religious festival, or '' Tsechhu ''. Villagers from the surrounding district come for several days of religious observances and socializing while contribution auspicious offerings to the lama or monastery of the festival. The central activity is a fixed set of religious mask dances, or '' Cham '', held in a large courtyard. Each individual dance takes up to several hours to complete and the entire set may last two to four days. Observation of the dances directly blesses the audience and also serves to transmit principles of Tantric Buddhism to the villagers. A number of the dances can be traced directly back to Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal himself, the founder of Bhutan, and have been passed down essentially unchanged since the mid-1600s. Prior to dawn on the final day of the tsechu a huge tapestry, or '' Thongdrel '', is unfurled in the courtyard of the dzong for several hours. The mere sight of it is believed to bring spiritual liberation. The thongdrel is rolled up before the rays of the morning sun can strike it. THE MONASTERY Monks join the monastery at six to nine years of age and are immediately placed under the discipleship of a headmaster. They learn to read '' Chhokey ', the language of the ancient sacred texts, as well as Dzongkha and English . Eventually they will chose between two possible paths: to study theology and Buddhist theory, or take the more common path of becoming proficient in the rituals and personal practices of the faith. The daily life of the monk is austere, particularly if they are stationed at one of the monasteries located high in the mountains. At these monasteries food is often scarce and must be carried up by the monks or their visitors. The monks are poorly clothed for winter conditions and the monasteries are unheated. The hardship of such a posting is well-recognized; to have a son or brother serving in such a monastery is recognized as very good Karma for the family. A monk's spiritual training continues throughout his life. In addition to serving the community in sacramental roles, he may undertake several extended silent retreats. A common length for such a retreat is three years, three months, three weeks and three days. During the retreat time he will periodically meet with his spiritual master who will test him on his development to ensure that the retreat time is not being wasted. Each monastery is headed by an abbot who is typically a Lama , although the titles are distinct. The highest monk in the land is the chief abbot of Bhutan, whose title is Je Khenpo . He is theoretically equivalent in stature to the king. The Central Monk Body is an assembly of 600 or so monks who attend to the most critical religious duties of the country. In the summer they are housed in Thimphu , the nation's capital, and in the winter they descend to Punakha dzong, the most sacred dzong in Bhutan, where Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal 's mortal body has been kept under vigil since the late 1600s. RADIO, TELEVISION, INTERNET, AND MOVIES In the early 1960s the Third King Of Bhutan began the gradual process of introducing modern technology to the medieval kingdom. The first radio service was broadcast for thirty minutes on Sundays (by what is now the Bhutan Broadcasting Service ) beginning in 1973 . The first Televison broadcasts were initiated in 1999 , although a few wealthy families had bought Satellite Dish es earlier. Internet service was established in 2000 . In 2002 the first feature length movie was shot in Bhutan, the acclaimed '' Travellers And Magicians '' written and directed by Khyentse Norbu , the esteemed Lama and head of the non-sectarian Khyentse lineage. The movie examines the pull of modernity on village life in Bhutan as colored by the Buddhist perspective of '' Tanha '', or desire. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |
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