Holiday in India & Bhutan (13): Thimphu
Monday was the day of the least travel and the most sightseeing of the entire trip. All our day was spent in Thimphu and we had no less than eight events.
We started with the Memorial Chorten which was built in 1974 in memory of Bhutan’s third king, Druk Gyalpo, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck (1928-1972) who is known as the founder of modern Bhutan and the person who opened the country to the world. People slowly circumambulate the shrine and some even lie prostrate on boards in acts of veneration.
Next, we drove up to Buddha Point (Kuensei Phorang) which is the site of the Great Buddha Dordenma: a gigantic Buddha statue built to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the fourth king, Jigme Singye. It is one of the largest Buddha rupas in the world (177 feet or 54 metres) and, astonishingly, inside there are some 100,000 8-inch and 25,000 12-inch tall gilded bronze Buddhas. We were blown away.
Our third venue was the National Institute for Zong Chusum (the term literally means ‘Thirteen Crafts’) which trains young people in the traditional contemporary art forms. We observed a number of these crafts: wood carving, tailoring, silver smithing, clay modelling, painting and embroidery.
The final destination of the morning was the Junhshi Handmade Paper Factory. Here they take the wood of the daphne tree and convert it to desho paper which is then used for a range of objects such as paintings and notebooks.
After lunch, our first visit of the afternoon was to the Royal Takin Preserve. The takin is the national animal of Bhutan and it is unique, rare and native to the country. It looks like a cross between a cow and a yak – not very pretty, to be honest. During lock down, the preserve installed overhead gangways which makes the viewing of the takin and other animals a really accessible experience.
Our next stop was at the Zilukha Nunnery, also known as the Drubthrob Geomba Monastery. This was constructed in 1976 and houses about 60 nuns, all of whom are bare-headed and shaven-headed. We witnessed part of a prayer ceremony with chatting of mantras plus the sounding of long horns, drums and pipes. It was very atmospheric.
Finally, we were given one last chance to do some shopping at a long stretch of craft shops running alongside a major road. Stereotypically, the women in our group were delighted by the Chuphachu market and the men were in despair
We had left out hotel at 9 am and only returned at 4.30 pm, but we were given only 10 minutes to visit our rooms before we were required to be in a conference hall in the hotel. Here all the male members of the group were kitted out In the national dress for men called ‘Gho’, while all the female members were adorned in the national dress for women called ‘Kira’.
We were then treated to a succession of nine dances by teams of men and women in colourful costumes plus an amusing two-man representation of a wild yak. This enjoyable cultural entertainment lasted about an hour and ended a very full, but very satisfying, day.
October 28th, 2024 at 8:15 pm
Dear Roger, what a wonderful trip! Must have been incredible, thank you for being given the opportunity to read about it. Good luck in everything, Lída