News: For almost four minutes Bhutan will bear witness the wonder of the world - Solar Eclipse

Bhutan will witness Solar Eclipses Tomorrow

A few hours after the sun comes up tomorrow, darkness will descend, temperatures will drop and, for about four minutes, it will feel like night, even stars may be visible, as the moon completely eclipses the sun.

Bhutan is one of the few countries, apart from parts of India, China and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, where one of nature’s grandest spectacles, the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, will be visible. As Bhutan falls in the path of the eclipse, the phenomenon can be seen from almost anywhere in the country.

The moon will start eating into the sun at around 5:58 am (Bhutan time), when the shadow of the moon starts falling somewhere in the Arabian Sea. The entire phenomenon will last for about two hours in Bhutan with the total eclipse or totality starting at 6:58 am. A total eclipse occurs when the moon completely blocks the sun.

Assuming that it is a clear cloudless day, totality will be visible from 6:58 am to 7:00:54 am, about three minutes duration. The southern part of the country should be able to see the eclipse for about four minutes, according to calculations by the national aeronautical space administration (NASA). The maximum totality, six minutes 39 seconds, can be seen from the Pacific Ocean.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the sun and the earth, blocking out the sun from the areas in the moon’s shadow. Without the sun’s light, the sky darkens enough for stars to be seen and the corona makes a spectacular halo around the moon.

Meanwhile, experts warn that it is not safe to directly look at the sun with the naked eye, particularly when the partial eclipse is occurring. NASA expert, Dr Donald M Hassler, who gave a talk on solar eclipse in Thimphu yesterday, said that directly looking at a partial eclipse, even for a short time, could permanently damage the eyesight. But it was safe to look at the sun when the total eclipse occurs although timing it could be complicated.

Dr Hassler said that, on the day of the eclipse, there would be unusual and strange happenings that could be interesting to observe. “As the eclipse starts, you’ll notice a gradual drop in temperature and, at total eclipse, the sun will be one million times dimmer than its usual shine,” said Dr Hassler. “Animals will start behaving like they do at nightfall as the ‘moon starts biting the sun’.” Shadows of objects, like the leaves of trees, during partial eclipse will also bear crescent shape shadows.

Traditional Bhutanese belief is that a supernatural animal is attacking the sun or the moon during an eclipse. The Bhutanese language for eclipse, Za, also means, “to eat”. It is a common tradition to beat drums and blow trumpets or beat dogs, so that the cacophony frightens the Za into leaving the sun or the moon.

Dr Hassler, who described the phenomenon as a treat in the sky, distributed 800 solar filter glasses to students of Yangchenphug higher secondary school and others, who attended his talk at the royal institute of health and sciences.

The total solar eclipse tomorrow corresponds to 30th day of the 5th month of the lunar calendar (nam gang). The director of the National Museum in Paro, Khenpo Phuntshok Tashi, in an article said that the period provides a “rare and special opportunity for Buddhist lamas to practice and dedicate positive blessings for the world through meditation, recitation, and performance of pujas”.

“I’m particularly worried about how I might be able to control my children from looking at the partial eclipse,” said a parent, who attended Dr Hassler’s talk. The BBS plans to telecast live the rare phenomenon.

Source: Kuenselonline

Pema Gatshel Dzong

Pema Gatshel Dzong was built in 1981, the Dzong is usual in that it has no central tower, and a single courtyard that is hared equally by the lay administration and the monastic body. The building has three storey – the ground floor for political administration, and the middle floor with a chapel containing images of Shantaraksite, Guru Padmakara and King Trisong detsen, flanked by the eight manifestations of Guru Padmakara, and the Twenty-one aspects of Tara, on the top floor, there is a chapel containing one thousand miniature images of Tara.

News: Druk Air launching a new online information SITA HORIZON

Flying with the national airline Drukair can sometimes be an arduous affair. But the chances of your Drukair experience being a pleasurable one may have just increased with the airline launching a new online information, reservation and ticketing service yesterday.

Services that are available on the system include online reservations, electronic ticketing, information accessibility to air fares and real time seat availability, and departure control services which includes checking in before your departure date, not just for Drukair but any airline that is a member of IATA (International Air Transport Association).

Drukair IT engineer, Tshultrim Dorji, said, the new system was only operational at the airline’s offices currently. The system will be accessible on any computer connected to the internet by the end of October. He said the new system would be more reliable and secure than the present one. Technical support, in case of network problems will be available 24x7 for Drukair, ensuring less problems than the present system which will be discontinued on October 24.

Drukair has chosen an airline reservation system operated by SITA HORIZON, a multinational company that specializes in providing telecommunications and other information technology for the airline industry.

The airline hopes the new system will improve its information accessibility and ticketing services, which has in the past, come under criticism.

A spokesperson for the airline said the system would make traveling with Drukair a much more convenient experience.

Source: Kuenselonline

Drugyel Dzong

Paro Drugyel Dzong

Further in the north from Paro town, are the ruins of Drugyel Dzong built in 1647 (16th Century), which straddles a hill overlooking approaches from Tibet. Once a strategic fortress critical in repulsing invading Tibetan armies from the north, it was laid waste by a fire in 1954. A sheltered passageway, also in ruins, runs from the Dzong to the distant bank of the river to ensure adequate water supplies in times siege. A small hamlet surrounds the ruins on one side with its archery range crisscrossing the path up to the burnt out fortress. In good weather, on may glimpse the peak of the sacred Mount Jomolhari.

Bhutan: The 8th Happiest Country on Earth

The tiny kingdom of Bhutan was ranked the eighth-happiest country on earth in a study last year by a British scientist at the University of Leicester in England. It is probably no coincidence that the Bhutanese do not go in for white-water kayaking. Leave it to the West to import this perilous activity and make a documentary about it.

“Adventure: Bhutan,” which will be shown on the Discovery Channel tomorrow night, follows 24 intrepid types on a 10-day river trek from the Himalayas, south to the Indian border. Nobody has done this before, and there seems no reason to do it now, other than to make this documentary; the network assembled the team for that purpose.

The leader is Gerry Moffatt, a Scot who can say things like, “We’re all in the same boat together” and not sound corny — that’s how handsome he is. His impressive crew includes Greg Mallory, who is paralyzed from the waist down but paddles a mean kayak all the same, and Land Heflin, whose name alone destines him for macho adventure.

The members of the team start out among the gorgeous hillside temples of northern Bhutan, where they meet the locals and get a blessing that requires drinking alcohol from a human skull. They do more sightseeing than Matt Lauer, the globe-trotting “Today” show co-host, did on his recent Bhutan stop, but we learn less from them. These buff adventurers are here for one reason: the river.

Much of the scenery they lurch through, the narrator tells us, “has never before been seen by Western eyes.” Still, once those rapids start rolling, we could be in Colorado.

The usual trials follow. Will they make it to camp before dark? Will they get out of the gorge alive? Will the guy who’s having pure alcohol poured into his bone-deep leg wound stop moaning?

And will we driven Westerners ever learn the secrets of the East? Not in this documentary, that’s for sure. Everybody talks about the “mysticism” of the Buddhist culture that surrounds them, but, as Mr. Moffatt says, “I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

It’s simple. Just get out of the boat and walk away.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com