Day 331: Thimphu

Feb 28 - Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan, declared the seat of government in 1961. It is also the largest city, with a population of 145,000. To put that in perspective, the whole country has a total population of 777,000 as of 2021.

How Bhutan formed in the first place is a question that is both easy and difficult to answer, due to the level of mythology that has seeped into it.

From a verifiable historical angle, the creation of a kingdom here dates to 1616 CE, when a conflict between Tibetan lamas forced one of them, Ngawanag Namgyal (the Zhabdrung Rinpoche), to flee along with his monk followers. He arrived in the mountains of Bhutan and over time, unified the different groups that occupied the various valleys into one kingdom. Naturally it was fully Buddhist, under the Drukpa Kagyupa school (one of the four major ‘denominations’ of Vajrayana Buddhism). The Zhabdrung Rinpoche soon had to fight off armies arriving from Tibet to subdue him, which he was successful in doing. Unfortunately, upon his death, civil conflict consumed the kingdom for the next 200 years, though it was never invaded from the outside. In 1885 the Wangchuck Dynasty began when Ugyen Wangchuck was able to consolidate power and unify the people again. In 1907 he and his bloodline were codified as hereditary rulers of Bhutan, and this has continued until today.

Buddhism has already been the major religious force in Bhutan from about 800 CE, due to the influence of Tibet. In the process it absorbed the early animistic beliefs of the region. It was only after 1616, however, that the Drukpa Kagyupa school reigned supreme.

The National Memorial Chorten, constructed in 1974 to honor the third king of the Wangchuck Dynasty, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck. He had died in 1972 of tuberculosis.

In a side room, candles can be lit for the family. This room was made separate from the chorten for fire safety reasons.

Turning the prayer wheels.

People circumambulating the chorten

The most interesting part of the chorten was inside. Here, however, no photos were allowed. There were three levels, where worshippers could walk around the outside a display of a wrathful deities, coupled as strength (male) and wisdom (female). On the second floor, the male deities hold a dagger (called phurba or kila) facing down, meaning that they are trying to destroy any or all of the three poisons: jealousy, ignorance, and anger. These three evils are represented normally by a rooster, pig, and snake respectively.

Drive a bit south and up on the west side of the valley to visit the enormous Buddha Dordenma Statue. Construction of this statue (and interior temple) was completed in 2015, and was built to celebrate the 60th anniversary of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck.

This is one of the three largest monuments in Bhutan. It is 52 meters tall.

Relief wall decoration of Garuda.

Once again, no photos allowed inside. A graduation ceremony for young monks was going on inside, so plenty of chanting and speeches. Several Buddha representations here, including one of Buddha in emaciated form during his fasting period, and another unusual one with four heads (facing the four cardinal directions).

Just up the hill from here is the start of a hiking trail that goes along the steep side of the valley, ending up just above where our hotel is. It takes about two hours to walk.

Most of the trail leads through pine and hemlock forests.

Drumstick primulas (Primula denticulata). These we found flowering in places near running streams.

View down into Thimphu. The government has mandated that all rooves not associated with government buildings must be green in color. The city is in the process of complying.

Small square stupa at the end of the hike.

From here we eat at a restaurant, and go up another hill to the Royal Takin Preserve, the closest we will get to being at a zoo in Bhutan.

The takin is the national animal of Bhutan. They are a protected species. Also called the gnu goat, they are most closely related to sheep. They thrive in climates similar to that of the muskox. Their strangely shaped heads and faces have inspired people to revere them as a combination of an ox body with a godlike head.

There were two baby takins, one about a week old.

The group of enclosures also had various species of deer.

A tahr, also related to goats and sheep.

Last activity of the day is a visit to the Art and Craft School, a vocational training facility. Here, students take three years of art training, then decide a specialty and concentrate for three years to perfect it. The choices are drawing, painting, and sculpture. There is a huge local market for these skills, as virtually all the building exteriors and interior walls have some degree of painted art, wood sculpture, and whatnot.

The drawing department.

The sculpture department.

The kids in the painting department got out of class as we arrived, but this is an example of the types of things they paint. It is a supporting column in the classroom.

Odette really, really wanted to draw and paint, so a student gave her his sketchbook so she could draw up a design that she could color in later at the hotel.

Another part of the school was for sewing patterned cloth that gets hung on the temples and monasteries during festivals.

I ask Gembo about what the youth are looking for in life here, and if it has led to restlessness and desire to leave the country. He confirms that it has, young people see too easily what lies outside on social media and are drawn to it. Jobs are a bit restricted in Bhutan, there just isn’t a lot of job variety that isn’t traditional. It seems likely that this will become a real problem with time, echoing what is happening in many countries.

For dinner, go to a restaurant downtown to meet up with Sonam, my original contact with Bhutan Journeys to organize this tour. We discuss at length the pros and cons of how tourism is set up in the country. He tells me that no sufficient study was conducted to see the effects of the increased fees on number of tourists, because as far as he can tell, the industry has slowed considerably (since the lifting of Covid restrictions compared with pre-pandemic). Since tourism is such a big earner in Bhutan, this will negatively affect the economy.

Bhutan