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Thimphu is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's dzongkhags, the Thimphu District. The ancient capital city of Punakha was replaced by Thimphu as capital in 1955, and in 1961 Thimphu was declared as the capital of the Kingdom of Bhutan by the 3rd Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.
Bhutan is a sovereign country at the crossroads of East Asia and South Asia, located towards the eastern extreme of the Himalayas mountain range. It is fairly evenly sandwiched between the sovereign territory of two nations: first, the People's Republic of China (PRC) on the north and northwest. There are approximately 477 kilometres of border with the country's Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), or simply Tibet. The second nation is the Republic of India on the south, southwest, and east; there are approximately 659 kilometres with the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, and Sikkim, in clockwise order from the kingdom. Bhutan's total borders amount to approximately 1,139 kilometres. The Republic of Nepal to the west, the India to the south, and the Union of Myanmar to the southeast are other close neighbours; the former two are separated by only very small stretches of Indian territory.
The music of Bhutan is an integral part of its culture and plays a leading role in transmitting social values. Traditional Bhutanese music includes a spectrum of subgenres, ranging from folk to religious song and music. Some genres of traditional Bhutanese music intertwine vocals, instrumentation, and theatre and dance, while others are mainly vocal or instrumental. The much older traditional genres are distinguished from modern popular music such as rigsar.
Dechencholing Palace is located in Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the north of the Tashichho Dzong and 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of the city centre. It was built in 1953 by the third king of Bhutan Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.
The gho or g'ô is the traditional and national dress for men in Bhutan. Introduced in the 17th century by Ngawang Namgyal, 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, to give the Ngalop people a more distinctive identity, it is a knee-length robe tied at the waist by a cloth belt known as the kera. On festive occasions, it is worn with a kabney.
The kira is the national dress for women in Bhutan. It is an ankle-length dress consisting of a rectangular piece of woven fabric. It is wrapped and folded around the body and is pinned at both shoulders, usually with silver brooches, and bound at the waist with a long belt. The kira is usually worn with a wonju inside and a short jacket or toego outside.
Boedra is a traditional genre of Bhutanese music. Boedra, which is influenced by Tibetan folk music, is one of the two main folk singing styles in Bhutan, the other being zhungdra, which was developed in the 17th century.
The Bhutan Textile Museum or the National Textile Museum is a national textiles museum in Thimphu, Bhutan, located near the National Library of Bhutan. It is operated by the National Commission for Cultural Affairs. Since its establishment in 2001, the museum has generated national and international attention and has garnered a substantial collection of antique textile artefacts, exclusive to Bhutan.
The Paro Chhu is a river of western Bhutan. It is a tributary of the Wong Chhu, which is known as the Raidak in its lower reaches.
Daga Province was one of the nine historical Provinces of Bhutan.
Bumthang Province was one of the nine historical Provinces of Bhutan.
Thimphu Province was one of the nine historical Provinces of Bhutan.
The Provinces of Bhutan were historical regions of Bhutan headed by penlops and dzongpens. Provincial lords gained power as the increasingly dysfunctional dual system of government eventually collapsed amid civil war. The victorious Penlop of Trongsa Ugyen Wangchuck gained de jure sovereignty over the entire realm in 1907, marking the establishment of the modern Kingdom of Bhutan and the ascendancy of the House of Wangchuck. Since this time, the provinces of Bhutan have been reorganized several times into what are now the twenty Districts of Bhutan (Dzongkhag). Provincial titles such as Penlop of Trongsa and Penlop of Paro carry on, however, wholly subordinate to the Royal House.
Archery in Bhutan is the national sport of the Kingdom. Archery was declared the national sport in 1971, when Bhutan became a member of the United Nations. Since then, the popularity of Bhutanese archery has increased both inside and outside Bhutan, with a measure of government promotion. Bhutan also maintains an Olympic archery team. Previously, competitions were held only at dzongkhag and gewog levels, however modernly, archery tournaments and competitions are held throughout the country. Archery is played during religious and secular public holidays in Bhutan, local festivals (tsechu), between public ministries and departments, and between the dzonkhag and the regional teams. Archery tournaments and performances have also become a significant point of interest for tourism in Bhutan.
The valleys of Bhutan are carved into the Himalaya by Bhutan's rivers, fed by glacial melt and monsoon rains. As Bhutan is landlocked in the mountainous eastern Himalaya, much of its population is concentrated in valleys and lowlands, separated by rugged southward spurs of the Inner Himalaya. Despite modernization and development of transport in Bhutan, including a national highway system, travel from one valley to the next remains difficult. Western valleys are bound to the east by the Black Mountains in central Bhutan, which form a watershed between two major river systems, the Mo Chhu and the Drangme Chhu. Central valleys are separated from the east by the Donga Range. The more isolated mountain valleys protect several tiny, distinct cultural and linguistic groups. Reflecting this isolation, most valleys have their own local protector deities.
A toego or tego is a long-sleeved, short jacket-like garment worn over a kira by women in Bhutan. The toego is thus part of the national dress of Bhutan required by the driglam namzha along with the kira, the wonju and the rachu.
A wonju is a long-sleeved blouse worn by women in Bhutan. Made of silk, polyester, or lightweight cotton, it is worn underneath the Kira, part of the national costume under the driglam namzha.
Sports in Bhutan comprise both traditional Bhutanese and modern international games. Archery is the national sport in Bhutan. Competitions are held regularly in most villages. Other traditional Bhutanese sports include khuru, soksom, pundo and digor.
The mountains of Bhutan are some of the most prominent natural geographic features of the kingdom. Located on the southern end of the Eastern Himalaya, Bhutan has one of the most rugged mountain terrains in the world, whose elevations range from 160 metres (520 ft) to more than 7,000 metres (23,000 ft) above sea level, in some cases within distances of less than 100 kilometres (62 mi) of each other. Bhutan's highest peak, at 7,570 metres (24,840 ft) above sea level, is north-central Gangkhar Puensum, close to the border with Tibet; the third highest peak, Jomolhari, overlooking the Chumbi Valley in the west, is 7,314 metres (23,996 ft) above sea level; nineteen other peaks exceed 7,000 metres (23,000 ft). Weather is extreme in the mountains: the high peaks have perpetual snow, and the lesser mountains and hewn gorges have high winds all year round, making them barren brown wind tunnels in summer, and frozen wastelands in winter. The blizzards generated in the north each winter often drift southward into the central highlands.
References
- 1 2 "Advisory Board". Music of Bhutan. Music of Bhutan Research Center online. Archived from the original on 2012-09-08. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
- ↑ "Department: Culture: Divisions". Nangsi Lhenkhag – Ministry of Home & Cultural Affairs Online. Government of Bhutan . Retrieved 2011-10-15.
- ↑ Ardussi, John; Pommaret, Françoise (2007). Bhutan: Traditions and Changes. Brill's Tibetan Studies Library. BRILL. p. 3. ISBN 978-90-04-15551-0 . Retrieved 2011-10-15.
- ↑ Kelly, Sanja; Walker, Christopher; Dizard, Jake (2008). Countries at the Crossroads: a Survey of Democratic Governance. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-7425-5899-1 . Retrieved 2011-10-15.
- ↑ Leiter, Samuel L. (2007). Encyclopedia of Asian Theatre: A-N. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-313-33530-3 . Retrieved 2011-10-15.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - 1 2 Brown, Lindsey; Bradley Mayhew; Stan Armington; Richard Whitecross (2009). Bhutan. Penguin. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-74059-529-2 . Retrieved 2011-10-16.
- ↑ "Royal Academy of Performing Arts". Lonely Planet online. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
- 1 2 Brown, Lindsay; Armington, Stan (2007). Bhutan. Country Guides (3 ed.). Lonely Planet. pp. 61, 106, 113. ISBN 978-1-74059-529-2 . Retrieved 2011-10-15.
- ↑ "Case Study Report: Bhutan" (PDF). Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU). 2009. p. 4. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
- ↑ Dorje, Gyurme (1999). Tibet Handbook: with Bhutan (2 ed.). Footprint Travel Guides. p. 840. ISBN 1-900949-33-4 . Retrieved 2011-10-15.
- ↑ "A Gift from the Sacred Past". Bhutan Observer online. 2011-10-11. Archived from the original on 2011-10-13. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
- ↑ "Bhutan – Dance Performance". University of Texas at El Paso online. 2008-07-08. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
- ↑ "About Us". Music of Bhutan. Music of Bhutan Research Center online. Archived from the original on 2012-09-04. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
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