Jul 12, 2012
Bhutan summer festival at Haa
Oct 20, 2011
"Royal Kiss" Royal wedding in Thimphu
Royal Weeding, in Punakha Bhutan
The Royal Wedding ceremony of His Majesty the King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck took place in the Puna Dewachen Phodrang in Punakha. Jetsun Pema was sanctified as the Queen of Kingdom of Bhutan by His Majesty the King.
The ceremony began at 4 am with the initiation of soong-chhoe prayers at the Marchen Lhakhang and Kuenra of the Punakha Dzong. His Majesty the King, escorted by the sacred retinue, arrived at the Dzong from the Royal Lingkha and lit a golden lamp and offered prayers before the Thongdroel of Zhabdrung in the first courtyard of the Dzong.
The Royal Bride was led in chhipdrel procession into the Dzong, where she lit a golden lamp before the Thongdroel, and exchanged Tashi Jel-Dhar with His Majesty the King.
The Raven Crown and the crown for the Queen of Bhutan were brought out from the Most Holy Macchen Lhakhang, along with a Golden Bumpa and the sacred five coloured dhar.
The Fourth Druk Gyalpo bestowed the sacred dhar upon the Royal Bride, sanctifying the Royal Wedding.
In the Kuenrey, The Royal Bride offered the ambrosia of eternal life, signifying her devotion to the glorious continuity of the Wangchuck Dynasty, from the Golden Bumpa, to His Majesty the King.
His Majesty then bestowed the crown of the Druk Gyal-tsuen to the Royal Bride, and Ashi Jetsun Pema, now as Druk Gyaltshuen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck, ascended to the throne of the Queen of Bhutan, to the left of His Majesty the King.
The ceremony at the Kunrey ended with the offering of Tashi Nga Soel, symbolic offerings to their Majesties the Queen and King of Bhutan. His Holiness the Je Khenpo, The Fourth Druk Gyalpo, and members of the Royal Family and guests offered tashi khadar to the royal couple.
Their Majesties the King and Queen then joined the people of Punakha and guests in a public celebration outside the dzong.
His Majesty granted tokha to the people gathered at the celebration ground.
Source: BBS
Oct 10, 2011
3 Days to go for Bhutan Royal Weeding
With just three days to go, the venue for the royal wedding, which covers some 100 acres, is abuzz with activities.
While locals were there to spruce up the venue for the year’s most anticipated event, a few Bhutanese from other parts of the country, and tourists were there to partake in and witness the country’s historic moment.
Potholes were patched, new gates erected, lawns mowed and trees watered. Punakha served as the capital of Bhutan from 1637 until 1907, and the first National Assembly was held here.
Among busloads of tourists were also students from some 19 schools, who had gathered at the dzong for their final cultural program rehearsals.
At the foot of the dzong, some 24 tents are already standing, stacked with cushions and chairs.
Each tent will accommodate around 40 people.
“We’re almost done with the preparations, except for some touch ups and making the gates,” Punakha dzongda Kuenzang N Tshering said. “Work on all physical structures has been completed.”
He is among some 100 people, who for the last five months have been involved in the royal wedding preparations.
“Excluding the invitees, some 10,000 Punaps are expected to attend the wedding,” he said.
Some 100 representatives from across the country will also be in Punakha to prepare the wedding feast, bringing with them their local staples.
“Each dzongkhag will prepare its own specialty,” economic affairs secretary Dasho Sonam Tshering, whose ministry is looking after the catering, said. “We’ve listed about 54 traditional items for about 1,500 people,” he said. “No imported wine or food will be served.”
Instead, besides water, drinks would comprise singchang, ara and bangchang.
The host dzongkhag will be serving ema datsi, two kinds of rice and Talo ezay (chili pickle).
Four pavilions have been built from where five dzongkhags will serve their fares.
People from some 13 dzongkhags have already arrived to prepare the feast.
Karala, 57, from Trongsa, said he and his friends would prepare ema datsi using their own flavours.
At such times, what the dzongkhag is short of is hotel rooms for guests and locals from other parts of the country to stay in.
“All guests are expected to arrange their own accommodation, because we don’t have enough hotels in Punakha,” the dzongda said.
This being a tourist season, all rooms were booked five to six months ago.
“There were just no hotel rooms when we started booking two months ago,” he said.
People from nearby dzongkhags, especially Thimphu, he said, would start early in the morning to attend the wedding, which begins at 8.30am.
Tourism Council of Bhutan website has listed four hotels in Punakha with 84 rooms.
One of the hotels, Damchen resorts said all 33 rooms are running full this whole month.
“Hotels in Wangduephodrang also have no rooms,” the dzongda said.
Arrangements have been made for those, who have to arrive early in Punakha for the wedding.
“Accommodations have been made in our offices, classrooms and halls,” he said.
Canopies and shades from bamboos and wooden benches have also been built for people.
In the last two weeks, a sawmill operator, Kinzang said he had sawn about a truckload of logs into planks for the benches.
Chairmen of the nine committees formed for the wedding, the cabinet ministers, along with the prime minister, were also in Punakha yesterday to see the preparations.
“The media committee, which will be taking care of the 150 foreign media personnel, were also here to familiarise with the area.”
With no place for cars to move around, the dzongda said he has lost almost 10kg from walking.
“My belt for the patang (sword) is big for me now,” he quipped.
Source: Kuenselonline
Oct 8, 2011
Thimphu Festival: Dance of Lord of Cremation Ground
They are highly regarded in tantric practices, and are the guards of the eight cremation grounds, situated on the edges of the cosmic diagram or the mandala.
According to Kinzang Dorji, who teaches mask dances at the institute of language and culture studies in Semtokha, Dhurdag is the emanation of Pelden Lhamo, the main protective deity of Bhutan. “Pelden Lhamo manifests in the form of Dhurdag, when she serves as the lord of endowments in Tantarayana,” he said.
There are two different versions of the dhurdag dance, one performed by the monks, and the other by laymen, with some difference in steps. The dancers bring a box in a cloth that is made to look like human skin, which contains a small effigy of a human being. The cloth and the box will be left behind, when the dance is completed, to be damaged by the Tungam chham dancers that would follow. “This signifies subduing the evil that harms the tantric doctrine,” said Kinzang Dorji.
Dhurdag chham performed by monks, according to the Tsugla Lopen Samten Dorji says the dance is performed only by senior monks, who have mastered all other mask dances. “Durdag is complex, because it requires some measure of understanding of tantric symbolism.”
Spectators at tshechus, while witnessing the Dhurdag dance, should visualise the surrounding as the great cremation ground, the people as the assembly of buddhas, dakis, dakinis and the lords around the cosmic world, and dhurdag dancers as the real lord of cremation grounds, said the Tsugla lopon. “It’s only then that they’ll be bestowed the endowments.”
Source: Kuenselonline