Traditional Bhutanese architecture to Preserve

At the deliberation on the survey on traditional rammed earth buildings yesterday in Thimphu, three traditional houses from western region of Bhutan were proposed for preservation.

These buildings are in Kabisa in Thimphu, Changjokha in Punakha, and in Talung Toed in Haa.

The survey began in 2012 and is ongoing.  The project is scheduled to be completed in 2019.

The project began following the September 2012 earthquake, which damaged most of the traditional buildings in the country.

Head of Division for Conservation of Heritage Sites (DCHS), Nagtsho Dorji, said that among the main objectives of the project were to study the structural characteristics of traditional buildings, methods to improve disaster resilience, and to study feasible and appropriate manner to preserve their heritage value.

She added that activities in the project concentrated on architectural study, which looked at typology of the traditional houses, chronological and regional features, construction methods and practice of traditional buildings, and to understand the views of Bhutanese on conservation of the traditional buildings.

“After the earthquake in 2012, everyone wanted to reconstruct the buildings in a very modern design, which would have sufficed to the immediate requirement but in the long run would have actually affected the cultural heritage of Bhutan,” Nagtsho Dorji said.

The survey also measured and analysed vibration characteristics of the traditional buildings. More than 100 buildings in Haa, Punakha, Thimphu, Paro, and Chukha were surveyed.

Along with officials from Department of Culture (DoC), experts and representatives from Japan, house owners of the proposed buildings for preservation attended the workshop.

Financial constraint for renovation and sustenance viability were among the concerns raised at the workshop.

Nagtsho Dorji said that the works and human settlement ministry had taken the concept of providing incentive in certain areas. She added that waiving off underdevelopment tax and timber subsidy were an option. “We want to look into providing financial support without interest. We also hope that the government will provide money, which will happen once we have legislative documents.”

Experts from Japan said that the scientific evidence from the survey on the importance of the traditional buildings and initiatives from the locals in conservation of the buildings would help gain financial support from government and donors for sustenance.

DCHS’s senior architect, Yeshi Samdrup, shared the benefit of enactment of the culture heritage bill.

He said that the bill’s registration and designation of the culture heritage aspect would foster people’s sense of ownership and help achieve good balance between culture heritage and other values, including economic development. “For the buildings to be recognised as a culture heritage, distinctive typology, specificity of style, historical value, aesthetic and artistic value, and social value are required of the vernacular houses.”

The bill, which was drafted in 2016, will be forwarded for enactment in the next Parliament.

Head of the conservation planning research section of Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Japan, Masahiko Tomoda, said that the most common typology of Bhutanese traditional houses are on the verge of disappearing.

He added that a legal framework for the protection of the traditional houses, which is important, is encouraged. “The old buildings are important as a testimony of the past. It is not only important to preserve these houses, but also to encourage the people to make similar houses in the future. So, we are looking forward to the outcomes from the survey’s structural strength of the buildings.”

Source: Kuenselonline

Bhutan: Gelephu domestic airport received its first scheduled flight, yesterday.

More than three years after it was inaugurated, Gelephu domestic airport received its first scheduled flight, yesterday.

The national airline, Drukair, flew seven revenue paying local passengers and four government guests, including the information and communications secretary to Gelephu from Paro. From Gelephu, the airline picked up the information and communications minister and other government officials on its return flight to Paro via Bumthang.

The airline will conduct two flights a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays to Gelephu.

The promotional fare for Bhutanese is currently Nu 6,000 for a return ticket to Gelephu, and Nu 3,500 for a one way ticket. The flight time between Paro and Gelephu is 45 minutes.

Foreigners will be charged USD 250 for a return trip and USD 140 one way.

Drukair CEO, Tandin Wangchuk said that commercially the flights will not be financially sustainable and that the airline is simply following the government’s directive. “We’re respecting a government directive and we’re operating,” he said.

The government instructed Drukair to begin flying scheduled operations to Gelephu in April and in November.

He pointed out that Drukair would operate to Gelephu even if there is only one passenger flying one way. But when there are no passengers, the airline will not operate.

The CEO said that the government could make the business more sustainable for Drukair if it were to provide aviation fuel facilities at Gelephu domestic airport. Up to 30 percent of the cost of a flight is spent on fuel.

Department of Air Transport (DAT) director, Karma Wangchuk said that it may not be commercially viable for the Bhutan Oil Distributor to have in place aviation fuel facilities at Gelephu given the potentially low number of flights to the airport. However, he said that the DAT will ask the fuel company.

Tandin Wangchuk also said that the government should consider expanding Gelephu airport so that both airlines can use it to temporarily halt there when there is bad weather at Paro international airport. He said this would be a cheaper alternative than having to halt at Kolkata or Bagdorgra.

Karma Wangchuk said that there are plans to eventually expand the airport but that significant costs would be involved. He said any expansion would depend on the government and fund availability.

Tandin Wangchuk did not rule out Drukair approaching the government later on if it is found that the route remains unsustainable.

The erstwhile Department of Civil Aviation constructed the airport at a cost of Nu 225.3 million. A further Nu 9 million was spent to build a new terminal at the airport when the runway had to be shifted and it was found that the first terminal was located too far away.

Source: Kuenselonline

Bhutan Festival: What’s tshechu really, and why do we observe it?

The answer is simple you may think. It is in many ways. But tshechu is much more than how it is understood today.

History has it that Guru Rinpoche, the great scholar, visited Tibet and Bhutan in the 8th century and 9th century. He visited Bhutan to help the dying king Sindhu Raja in Bumthang. Guru performed a series of such dances to restore the health of the king. The grateful king helped spread Buddhism in Bhutan. Guru organised the first tshechu in Bumthang, where the eight manifestations of Guru were presented through eight forms of dances.

But tshechu is more than celebration of Guru Rinpoche’s extraordinary life and contributions. It is a moment to give thanks; it is a time for people to supplicate for good days ahead. However, with time, tshechu has come to mean something totally different.

Tshechu was initiated long time ago as the most profound public teaching – how we live our lives, how we need to conduct ourselves as an individual member of society, and how we could work together for the benefit of all. It was meant to be a time of celebration for people who had to work for days on end in the fields, a moment for members of family to come together and celebrate their success.

All these have taken a different turn today. Tshechu these days is a holiday and time to have some fun, nothing more than that.

“Tshechu is fun. We get to see a lot of different things and time to hangout during nights,” says 17-year-old Kuenga Tenzin. “Chams are a bore, really. There should be more modern dance and songs.”

But 76-year-old Aap Thinley Penjore disagrees. Tshechu is not a plain celebration, he says. It has a deep significance. “Tshechus are kurims for the nation and the people. What is important is that one should have a complete devotion. Prayers need to be earnest. Only then will good things happen to the people and the country.”

But to the young people, the twirling and twisting of the masked dancers mean nothing. There is nothing to be gained from it, materially, emotionally and spiritually.

Raksha Mangcham, the dance of the Rakshas and Judgement of the Dead, which is based on the Book of Dead – Guru Rinpoche’s scared teaching – is, at the best, a funny act to most young people today.

“I don’t understand why these dancers are going about wasting so much time. And look at the rain. What’s the purpose of it,” says Sonam Choden, a 19-year-old student. “I have heard that the dances have special meaning. I don’t get it.”

Shingje Choegi Gyalp, the Lord of the Dead, has been basking for a long while, in the rain not for no reason. The judgement time will soon begin. Black and white deeds will be counted and the fate of a person will be decided.

“Not many people understand the significance of tshechu today,” says Aap Kinley Sithub of Kabesa, Thimphu. “Tshechus were initiated to thank gods for peace and prosperity and to invoke the power of the higher beings to grant us continued prosperity and happiness.”

Today, tshechu has come to mean a time to flaunt one’s wealth. How best one is dressed and how richly one eats is Tshechu. For young people, it is a time to find a mate and have a good time, however fleeting the moment.

Says Lopen Pema Thinley, a retired teacher: “It is good that we now have commentators at tshechus. Otherwise, our young people will not understand anything about tshechu. It is crucial that we understand why we are doing this. It is more than just culture, tradition and belief system. It is a life lesson.”

Shingje Choegi Gyalp is looking on, almost motionless. Acts unfold and the rain continues. Thimphu Tshechu is coming to an end. Outside, on the streets, traders and merchants are busy selling garments and things varied.

Has tshechu also come to mean business?

Source: Kuenselonline

Red dried chilies must for Bhutanese dishes

The sun dried red chilies are a must have ingredient in many Bhutanese dishes but with their price soaring through the roof of the centenary farmers market, it may have to saved only for rare and special occasions.

A kilogram of red chilies costs Nu.800 to Nu.1000.

Karma Wangmo, a customer, came all the way from Soe Naro in Paro to buy red chilies at the centenary farmers market. She went home without buying a single kilogram. It is simply beyond her meager means.

“There is a huge difference between last year and this year. Last year, a kilogram cost Nu.400. Now it is double,” she said.

Yeshey Namgay, a teacher, cannot do without chilies. “For the Bhutanese, chili is a must. The price has increased but we have no choice,” he said.

Aum Singey Bidha has been selling chilies at the Centennial Farmer’s Market in Thimphu for almost 11 years now. She has never seen the price of dried chilies rise so high.

“The chili yield was poor. I bought at Nu.700 from the wholesale dealer and sell for Nu.800.”

With the Monsoon around the corner, farmers in chili growing areas are already preparing their fields for chili cultivation. The harvest will be dried and sold next year. One can only pray that this year, the rains will come on time and the harvest will be bountiful.

The Container: co-production between Bhutan and Australia

The Container, a co-production between Bhutan and Australia, and shot in Gaselo village, Wangduephodrang, is screening at the short film corner of the Cannes film festival.

Inspired by a true event that took place in the 1980s, the 15-minute movie, directed by Jamyang Dorji, was shot in less than two weeks, and is about a mother’s devotion to her child, as she travels great distances from her poor, remote community, to get some medicine from a small basic health unit for her very ill child.

In a cruel twist of fate, she learns that, even though the medicine is provided for free, she must have a container to hold the precious liquid. She does not have a bottle and cannot afford to buy one, and the search begins.

At one time, the mother played by Deki Yangzom, who acted in Travelers and Magicians, even tries to sell her dzee (antique jewelry) to get herself an empty bottle. Her desperate search reveals the emotional core of a mother, who is constantly worried about the safety of her child. It also reflects the trials and tribulations of parenthood.

The container symbolises protection from the uncertainties of life. Life itself is difficult to hold and, sometimes, simple things affect it in a big way.

In the end, it also renders a spiritual touch, as the mother finally gets hold of a vase (bumpa) from a lhakhang to hold the medicine. The movie is art-based, focused on a subject and targeted at a select audience. The movie was screened at the Cannes film festival yesterday at 12am.

The purpose of short movies is not to make money, but to convey one’s artistic message, according to Tashi Gyeltshen, a filmmaker, who also said that short filmmaking is almost non existent in the country.

A short-film festival, called the Beskop Tshechu, was organised last year among Bhutanese short filmmakers.

Source: Kuenselonline

Bhutanese really love their neighbours

"If love of God is proved by love of neighbour, many Bhutanese are very close to God,” wrote Father William Mackey (1915-1995) in his unfinished book, and warranted it by saying that the Bhutanese really love their neighbours.

The Canadian Jesuit lived in Bhutan for 32 years, most of it in remote areas, where he assisted in setting up modern schools. In these institutions, he joined the students in their daily prayers and observed them. For him, this experience not only gave him an insight into Buddhism and enriched his life, but also allowed him to understand his own god and life more clearly.

The Guluphulus
For father, it was an evening ritual to wander through the dormitory, before the lights were turned out. There, he encountered students squatting on their beds, unconscious of the commotion around them. He described this as experiencing prayer. “They descend inside themselves, beneath the level of sense beneath the level of mind to the fundamental level of being.”

Father called this immobile meditation, where experience of reality is given importance and the practice to encounter oneness and uniqueness takes precedence over the intellectual approach (father thought this was a fallacy). Unlike his approach to god, he found his students approach more realistic. He said that they did not try to grasp infinite reality with their finite minds or through fixed concepts. He said it was impossible to do so, as no word or image can express an unlimited reality.

Moved by his student’s ability to calm their minds, he slowly began to follow their examples. “I can now squat peacefully for 45 minutes every morning, trying to experience the reality of god in my life,” father said. “The Bhutanese guluphulus (rascals) have taught me how to pray.”

According to father, the religion of Bhutan is more Lamaism Buddhism, and he believes it to have come from India via Tibet, infiltrated with a large dose of Tibetan tantrism, Chinese beliefs and doctrines.

Father was impressed with how the Bhutanese were close to reality. For example, he said it was common practice to make simple daily offerings. “The offering of the day with all its troubles, problems good and bad, one of the children will take the sangphur - little metal cup or vase - in which some leaves or sticks are burning and waft the smoke in front of their altar, and around the room. It is a daily Bhutanese morning offering of the day, good and bad difficulties and problems, to Sangye, Lord Buddha, asking for his help and guidance.”

Soon father’s approach to prayer became what he called, Bhutanese and Trinitarian. “I try to experience the reality of being father in being “I am”- an opportunity to be - a chance to suffer, work, and pray to make a little world a more loving place.

YabYum - Duality and Union
The Jesuit Dragon said that Lamaism propagated the practice of duality and union and, using a common sight as an example, explained the concept and experience of union that an individual can experience in this life. “Every temple contains statues and pictures; every home has its own statue of YabYum - Mother and Father squatting in the marriage act - similar to the Song of Songs in the Bible.”

Father said that this is how Bhutanese represent the union, the oneness of individual with the Supreme Being, one in mind and body, in affection and in love.

God - Who is he or her?
One of the fundamental differences between Buddhism and Christianity is the concept of God. The former faith accepts that all sentient beings have the seed of Buddha and can become one; while Christians believe in the concept of the Supreme Being. Buddhists are open to the idea of creation and happy to debate about it; while in the western world, god is seen as the creator.

Father said that the god he believes in is the Supreme Being and is omnipotent, omniscient and has ways and means that we know nothing about. However, like any Christian, Father believes that God is the creator and saviour. “God is at work in all religions. God has created all men. He wants to save all men.”

For a Buddhist, the reality of Supreme Being is too big to be included in a name or image. Father admitted this and said that the people of Bhutan represented this concept, in art as a small temple on top of a mountain with rays of light coming from the lhakhang or the monastery. Father agrees that no concepts can enclose the limitless. “No word or idea can express the unknowable. No mind can grasp the ungraspable.”

The Jesuit states that the Christian idea of experience is not appreciated. He believed that mirroring the Supreme Being is possible, and says that experience and love implies to all life and are fundamentally one. “All life is sacred because it mirrors something in an inferior way of the reality of the Supreme Being. There is no “I”; it does not mirror God. But God has mirrored the “I” and if it does not exist, that would imply a certain equality of being, a dualism of being that is not advaita, not two. A true Buddhist strives to strip his ego and eventually annihilate it, destroying the I.

“I can see God the Father, Son and Spirit actually, really at work in Lamaism. My work and life have been enriched by my contact with Lamaism.” Father reminds himself that, by living, working and praying with the Bhutanese, he could experience his god’s omniscience.

Father Mackey lived 32 years in Bhutan. During this time, the Roman Catholic never converted any of his students. Instead, he drew inspiration from the guluphulus and quietly reveals it in his book that never saw the light of day. The Canadian Jesuit acknowledged the spiritual depth of the Bhutanese, and admitted that it influenced his life and changed his perception of the concept of god and helped him become a better person; a good Christian, Catholic, Jesuit and priest, and prays that he could be a bridge between these two faiths and enrich them.

Source: Kuenselonline

The documentary Bhutan GNH: Taking the Middle Path to Happiness wins Emmys

The documentary Bhutan: Taking the Middle Path to Happiness by Tom Vendetti (a Hawaii based producer, director, cinematographer and editor) was awarded two Emmys at the 39th annual northern California area Emmy awards on May 18. The documentary won in the historical/cultural program/special category; and the second Emmy was awarded to the composer-associate Christopher Hedge for the films musical composition/arrangement.

The one-hour documentary examines the efforts of Bhutan’s government to create gross national happiness (GNH) for its people, by promoting the four pillars of environmental preservation, cultural promotion, economic development and good governance. Each pillar is discussed in detail through interviews with government officials and the local people, who explain the meaning of the middle path as a concept rooted in Buddhism and how it relates to the Bhutanese pursuit of GNH.

The film was distributed in the United States through PBS (the public broadcasting service) and has been screened at several film festivals around the world, including screenings held by the Bhutan Foundation in Washington DC, New York, San Francisco and Taiwan.

A screening of the film is being planned for early June by the Bhutan Foundation. A preview of the film can be viewed on the official website http://www.bhutan-film.com/index.html.

Source: Kuenselonline

Why can’t Bhutanese be Bhutanese?

This is just a humble participation in the discussion initiated by Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche in last Saturday’s Kuensel.

In 2008, I attended a two-module management training programme called “Leading for Change” organised by RCSC for mid-level civil servants. At the end of the second module, the resource person asked the participants to come up with sketch drawings on the theme “Bhutan: Twenty years from now.”

Two sketches particularly struck me: one depicted a herdsman from Merak-Sakteng checking the latest international butter price offers on the internet from his home desktop computer; the other was a cleaner haughtily shaking hands with the prime minister of Bhutan as if to say, “I’m your boss and you’re my servant.”

While these two scenarios will indeed be noticeable changes for Bhutan, if at all they happen, one may wonder whether both the changes are in the right direction, the change we can believe in. If they are not, we may have to choose wisely; and to choose wisely, we will have to work hard just as a American politician said, “Change is inevitable. Change for the better is a full-time job.”

Using rinpoche’s figurative expression, I will attempt to share my views on two of the four aspects raised by him.

Language
This is an area where we have to blame ourselves. The problem, I see, is not so much with Dzongkha as a language, but with us as its users and, perhaps, with its strategies and planning.

I have several foreign friends, who have acquired Dzongkha competency — both speaking and writing— by learning genuinely within months if not within weeks. Some foreigners have even written books in Dzongkha.

Some things we have to learn with the brain, but some things we have to learn with the heart. The main problem for Dzongkha not becoming popular is not learning with heart, as I see it at this stage. Of course, there are other issues like proper planning and proper teaching-learning; and for this, we may have to rewrite some Dzongkha literature and we may have to reassess our Dzongkha pedagogy, but we also have to rethink our perception of the national language.

This is not to say that we do not need English. English is a necessary language for us. But saying we need English is not to be considered as same as we don’t need Dzongkha.

I recommend bilingualism. This does not mean mixing Dzongkha and English, but a policy of considering the two languages equally important and defining their domains of use quite clearly.

India has something called three-language formula: Hindi as the official language, English as the associate official language, and mother tongue as a state language or third official language. Singapore and Switzerland have four-language policies; and some other countries, such as South Africa, have eleven official languages. This means that they devote so much time and resources to teach all the official languages equally.

The possibility of using Roman script to write native languages, as suggested by rinpoche, is not without problems. This is especially true for languages, such as ours, which have so many similar words, with tonal distinctions to indicate different meanings.

Because of the Dzongkha sound systems, we may have to use diacritics and symbols, which will be far more problematic than the problems posed by using the native script. In fact, in every country, including European and Asian ones, such as Indonesia, where Romanisation is an official policy, there are controversies and problems of arbitrariness in writing their languages.

To talk about the importance of a national language, I think the presidents of China and France or the chancellor of Germany will never address a UN Assembly session or a NATO summit in English at least for another 1000 years. If they do, they will not get votes. Anglos will be Anglos; Romans will be Romans. Why can’t Bhutanese be Bhutanese and move ahead as Bhutanese?

Let us keep rinpoche’s suggestions, which are very objective, as a possible option if things fail miserably and go horribly wrong; but for now, let us continue to do what we do, of course with modifications and adaptations, and see how it goes. Someone said, “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a language. You just have to get people to stop reading them.”

Let us not do this at present.

Happiness
My idea of happiness is that I have a work to exercise my brain or my brawn; that I have a root lama to seek refuge; that I have enough leisure and affordability to go on holidays and pilgrimages; and that my fridge is never empty. My happiness is also a kind of world, where everything is green when I look out of my window; where no person commits suicide; where our streets are free of gang fights; where our neighbours do not complain of burglaries.

It is also a kind of life in which husbands do not beat wives, or vice versa; my grandparents do not feel alienated from society; and my office mates do not die of kidney failure because they could not get enough dialysis.

To create a world like this, which is almost Utopia, I think everyone has to play his or her own part. The government has to generate maximum hydro-ngultrums or dollars; the banks have to think of giving back to the people and to the economy, and not always think of taking away from them; and our companies and industries have to invest in those projects, where there are economies of scale.

Our agriculturists have to grow those crops that we have comparative advantage over other producers in the neighbourhood, and they have to think of creating variability and diversity, so that we have maximum gains from international trade. Our villagers have to plant two saplings for every tree they cut down.

Last, but not least, our lamas and monks have to keep praying or chanting ferociously. Although they do not create tangible outputs, they clear all unforeseen obstacles for our country; so that we can move forward as a small but happy nation, along with automistic-mechanistic countries, like USA or Japan, for as long as the Earth exists.

The nature and weight of our responsibilities may differ. Some may have to carry forests on their backs like mountains; some may have to crack nuts like squirrels; but let us all play our parts in this game of nation building.

Source: Kuenselonline