སློབ་དཔོན་ང་།

The mask dance of Tiger and Bear is one of the iconic and thematically suited performance during the annual Lampelri Rhododendronn festival. The mask dancers consist of two performer one wearing mask of tiger and the other wearing bear.  The dance is said to be hour long performance with fourteen episodes of dances that comprises of wrathful, peaceful and playful episodes symbolizing the interaction between tiger and the bear. The performance during annual Rhododendron festival is usually curated to fit the time and mood of the festival. The dance captures and fascinates the tourist so much so that it is often performed repeatedly at the request of tourist.  Tiger and Bear Dance The Origin of the Mask Dance The dance Originated from Hongthso, a modern day subsidiary town of Thimphu which was originally a peaceful hamlet occupied by very small group of people. The origin of the dance is credited to Token (the realized) Nindha Yeshi, (date unknown) a Lama of Hongthos Phendhay (P...

Rukubji As I dissolve among the ordinary Drinking the ecstasy of sublime thoughts, Burrowing through what-ifs, and Rejoicing the best in my mind, I re-make myself every day. As I spread the deed, With no ego of having nor fear of not having I offer this chunk of melon To the deity of Pelela Who opens the door to scenic Rukubji,  I offer this chunk of melon To the serpent of Rukubji Who once slithered through the valley, I offered this chunk of melon To the omnipresent Pema Who pinned down the snake demon,  I offer this chunk of melon To the divine Kinley Who blessed the valley with mastered, I offer this chuck of melon To the red-cheek beauties of Rukibji Who shines the valley with unique art. In my humble offering May I find more solace, and May Omteng Tshomem bless them more. Lake below Palela (not Omteng Tso) Read More Here

Exclude few exceptional, self-less and top notched public servants, many of the public servants have taken antagonistic role. "Antagonistic role" is a grave description to describe any public servant without well founded justification. Anyone using this phrase, including myself, could run into turbulence of criticism and public hatred. After neatly weighing all possible outcomes of post, I choose to publish this. How public servants have assumed antagonistic role? In rendering our services, rather than orchestrating the confrontation of impediments to progress, we have made ourselves the impediments of progress. The vicious art of impediments have been crafted in manners described below.  1. Publicity and popularity seeking has became the top priority over efficiency of service delivery because of which we deliver third class service and write first class report. 2. Promotion to higher grade is more important than production. For this reason, farm production report is more th...

རྟ་ཕག་མགོན་པ། Two hours to the  north of Trongsa Chhoekhor Rabtentse Dzong, Tafa Goenpa  ༼རྟ་ཕག་དགོན་པ༽  is renowned meditation centre for Trongsa Rabdey. As we have etymologies for most names of the places, the name of the meditation centre is derived from its religious significance attached with its topography. Since the whole ridge on which it is situated is holy site dedicated to and blessed by Hayagriva  ༼རྟ་མགྲིན༽  who is wrathful manifestation of Avalokiteshvara and Dakini Vajaravarahi  ༼རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕག་མོ༽  who is wrathful form of  ༼རྡོ་རྗེ་རྣལ་འབྱོར་མ༽ Vajrayogini, the place is named after their divine names. The Goenpa has her religious as well historical marvel to those who pursue the subject seriously but that is topic for another story. Top Edge of Singay Thang Around one and half hours north-west to Tafa Goenpa, walking past marshy land, bent rhododendron trees, and dwarf bamboo plants that may even hide our friends who is just a meter aw...

There is so much charm in hearing the stories we never heard but there is nothing that fascinates us more than validating the stories and legends we heard. My parents narrated stories and folklores that lived throughout my life and I always carry this huge urge to validate and testify the stories to satisfy myself. One satisfactory testimony of the story I heard is one of the many living legends of Thowa Drak, a famed spot that cling to the highest rocky cliff to the north of Tang, Bumthang མཐོ་བ་བྲག་ལྷ་ཁང་ Thowadrak, one of the four great holy cliffs of Bumthang, famed by meditators, faith seekers, and pilgrims from all walks of life, is full of amusing legends and stories that awestruck everyone who pay visit to the temple or hear about it. The most important story from Thowa Drak is enthralling story of Guru Rimpoche performing miracles though divine powers to subdue vicious demons and summoning them as Dharma protectors. The second legend of Thowa Drak that never fail to entice us ...

Lugi Raw Temple Have you heard of Lugi Raw? Many haven't. If you are one of them you are on the right platform. This is for you.  3200 meters above the sea level, secluded among the towering mountains that feed Tshachuphu river, surrounded by fragrant cypress, juniper and pine trees, the temple of Lugi Raw (Rawa) is mystically yet snugly tucked at the heart of perilous cliff. Once you are at the temple clouds scudding overhead and the eerie silence of the surrounding perfectly blends with mysterious existence of temple. The old and rugged structure looks straight from the mythical era of 10th century. Very little is known about this temple. That is no wonder since the temple was established sometime between 10th and 11th century by some renowned Buddhist master.  Ngog Chöku Dorje (C@Mar Ngog.Org) The huge rocky cliff on which temple sits is believed to be meditation cave of Guru Rimpoche. The founder of the temple, however, is attributed to Lama Ngog Chöku Dorje (AKA Ngog Ten ...

“…When Bhutan opened to foreign tourist in the 1970s, our leaders resisted the temptations to harness the quick fortunes from mass tourism and was instead was prescient to formulate a visionary policy of High Value-Low Volume tourism. The wisdom of our tourism policy has led to the emergence of a strong Brand Bhutan - an exclusive destination.” -His Majesty The Druk Gyalpo Ever since Bhutan started welcoming foreign tourist in 1970s Bhutan became one of the top scorers as an exclusive tourist destination. Our country was able to harness the immense potential of tourism under the precondition of comprehensive planning and visionary leadership of His Majesty The Fourth Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuck. With “High Value-Low Volume” tourism policy, tourism is one of biggest revenue earners that contribute to our economic development. The cautious planning and visionary policy not only generated substantial revenue but also shielded us from many of the negative impacts and pitfalls o...

As we embrace the glorious past, vibrant present, and bright future aspiration, His Majesty the King Jigme Kheser Namgyel Wangchuk always guide the prosperity, security, unity and sovereignty of this nation through timeless wisdom and sacrifices. One of Royal guidance is conveyed through Royal Address conveyed in various national occasions. Of many Royal Addresses, Royal Address of National Day delivered at Samtse has two salient points. One was addressed to political parties and other was on civil and public service. The first part of address was on political parties with underlying message of unity. His Majesty in his address, clearly reflects on the commitments of political parties to work for wellbeing of people and nation. In doing so, His Majesty the King expressed the need to work towards strengthening our peace, sovereignty, and unity while achieving equitable socio-economic development in line with visions and long-term, aspirations of nation. His Majesty the King at Sa...