Thursday, February 27, 2020

Bhutan's Festival

In Bhutan, there is a festival that every dzongkhag (municipal district) holds that's called tshechu. It's an annual 3- day religious festival held between October and April. During the festival, monks teach religious values by performing a number of masked dances based on legends from Bhuddist scripture. The masked dancers spin and jump while others play trumpets, cymbals, drums, and oboes.  Each of the masks represent a significant Bhuddist lama (a teaching monk) or a mythical animal. Because the dancers are supposed to be performing as divine creatures, they have to undergo days of purification cerimonies before the performances. Throughout the performances, the dancers demonstrate stamina and endurance and are believed to be empowered by gods.
On the last day of celebrations, a huge thongdrel (painted tapestry) of either Guru Rinpoche or Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal is put on display for public viewing and worship until sunrise. Guru is believed to be a legondary Indian Bhuddist mytic. Zhabdrung was a Tibetan Bhuddist lama. Thousands of Bhutanese, and even tourists, come to see he festivities. Families dress in their nicest gho and kira and wear all the jewelry they own to the festivals. Gho is a long-sleeved, ankle-length robe hoisted to knee level and cinched tightly with a kera (belt) so that it forms pleats in the back and a deep pocket at the stomach. The gho is the male outfit. Because of that, that means the kira is the female outfit. It is a krage rectangular cloth wrapped from ankle to boodice and belted at the waist. It is then fastened at the shoulders and worn under a jacket.
I think this festival sounds really fun and I hope I get to see it one day. Also, I'm sorry if there are spelling mistakes. I read it over but it's one in the morning so I might have missed some. Since I have to finish with a question, here it is: who will pay for my trip to Bhutan?

2 comments:

  1. This doesn't count as a comment, but the time it said I posted it on isn't correct for some reason. I don't know why.

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  2. I really liked your Blog Post on Butan. I thought it was a very descriptive blog post. Like how you added all that detail on their festivals. I didn’t know that they played Trumpets, Cymbals, Drums, and Oboes. The 3-day religious festival is for some reason held between October and April. Why in that long of a time. I also like that you talked about their clothing. It needed a little bit more information though about the food.

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