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Bhutan's early history is steeped in mythology and remains obscure. Some of the structures provide evidence that the region has been settled as early as 2000 BC. According to a legend it was ruled by a Cooch-Behar king, Sangaldip, around the 7th century BC, but not much is known prior to the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism in the 9th century, when turmoil in Tibet forced many monks to flee to Bhutan. In the 12th century, the Drukpa Kagyupa school was established and remains the dominant form of Buddhism in Bhutan today. The country's political history is intimately tied to its religious history and relations among the various monastic schools and monasteries.
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.
Cradled in the folds of the Himalayas, Bhutan has relied on its geographical isolation to protect itself from outside cultural influences. A sparsely populated country bordered by India to the south, and China to the north, Bhutan has long maintained a policy of strict isolationism, both culturally and economically, with the goal of preserving its cultural heritage and independence. Only in the last decades of the 20th century were foreigners allowed to visit the country, and only then in limited numbers. In this way, Bhutan has successfully preserved many aspects of its culture, which dates directly back to the mid-17th century.
"Druk Tsenden" is the national anthem of Bhutan. Adopted in 1953, the lyrics were written by Dolop Droep Namgay and possibly translated into English by Dasho Gyaldun Thinley. The accompanying music was composed by Aku Tongmi.
Dzongkha is a Tibeto-Burman language that is the official and national language of Bhutan. It is written using the Tibetan script.
The national flag of Bhutan (འབྲུག་ཡུལ་རྒྱལ་དར) is one of the national symbols of Bhutan. The flag features the Druk, a dragon from Bhutanese mythology. This alludes to the country's name in Dzongkha: འབྲུག་ཡུལ་ Druk Yul, meaning 'The Thunder Dragon Kingdom', as well as the Drukpa Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism—the dominant religion of Bhutan.
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.
Articles related to Bhutan include:
Zhabdrung was a title used when referring to or addressing great lamas in Tibet, particularly those who held a hereditary lineage. In Bhutan the title almost always refers to Ngawang Namgyal (1594–1651), the founder of the Bhutanese state, or one of his successive reincarnations.
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.
Rigsar is a music genre, the dominant type of popular music of Bhutan. It was originally played on a dranyen, and dates back to the late 1960s. The first rigsar song, Zhendi Migo was a copy of the popular Bollywood filmi song "Sayonara" from the film Love in Tokyo. Rigsar songs can be in several languages, including the Tshangla (Sharchopkha) language.
The dramyin or dranyen is a traditional Himalayan folk music lute with six strings, used primarily as an accompaniment to singing in the Drukpa Buddhist culture and society in Bhutan, as well as in Tibet, Ladakh, Sikkim and Himalayan West Bengal. It is often used in religious festivals of Tibetan Buddhism. The instrument is played by strumming, fingerpicking or plucking. The dramyen, chiwang (fiddle), and lingm (flute) comprise the basic instrumental inventory for traditional Bhutanese folk music.
Dramyin Cham is a form of Cham dance, a masked and costumed dance performed in Tibetan Buddhism ceremonies in Bhutan, Sikkim, Himalayan West Bengal and Tibet. They are a focal point of the Bhutanese festivals of Tsechu. The Dramyin Cham is notable among Cham dances as the lead dancer keeps time with a dramyin - a Himalayan folk music lute, and not a traditional percussion instrument like the cymbals. This is among the few instances of monastic music in the Himalayas where the use of a stringed instrument has been observed.
The Druk Gyalpo is the head of state of the Kingdom of Bhutan. In the Dzongkha language, Bhutan is known as Drukyul which translates as "The Land of the Thunder Dragon". Thus, while kings of Bhutan are known as Druk Gyalpo, the Bhutanese people call themselves the Drukpa, meaning "people of Druk (Bhutan)".
Ashi, also spelled Ashe or Azhi, is a Bhutanese honorary title literally meaning "Lady". The title is prefixed to the given name, and is borne by female Bhutanese nobility and by female members of the Bhutanese royal family. The masculine form is Dasho, meaning "Lord", which is held by all Members of Parliament; a number of senior officials, including deputy ministers and district magistrates; senior civil servants and others as a form of Royal award, and by courtesy prominent landowners. Ashi can also mean "Miss" although that is not the intended use of the term. It is similar to the Arabic title Lalla also meaning Lady held by noblewomen . ‘Ashi’ is also a widely used term to refer to an ‘Elder sister’ especially in the Haa and Paro regions of Bhutan.
Laya Gewog is a gewog of Gasa District, Bhutan. The capital of gewog is the town Laya.
The national symbols of Bhutan include the national flag, national emblem, national anthem, and the mythical druk thunder featured in all three. Other distinctive symbols of Bhutan and its dominant Ngalop culture include Dzongkha, the national language; the Bhutanese monarchy; and the driglam namzha, a seventeenth-century code on dress, etiquette, and dzong architecture. Natural symbols of Bhutan are its national flower, the Himalayan blue poppy; its national tree, the Himalayan cypress; its national bird, the raven; and its national animal, the takin.
Geshey Gendün Rinchen was the 69th Je Khenpo of Bhutan.
Ashi Phuntsho Choden was the queen consort of Bhutan, as the wife of King Jigme Wangchuck.
Jigme Drukpa is a Bhutanese musician and singer of traditional folk songs, born in 1969 in the small village of Wongchelo, in Pemagatshel, eastern Bhutan. He graduated from Sherubtse College in 1993, and undertook postgraduate studies in Norway. He studied folk music at Rauland Academy and ethno music at Grieg Academy, and returned to Bhutan in 1999 as the country's first ethno-musicologist. He completed a master's degree in music therapy in Norway in 2017.
References
- ↑ "༈ རྫོང་ཁ་ཨིང་ལིཤ་ཤན་སྦྱར་ཚིག་མཛོད། ༼གཞ-༽" [Dzongkha-English Dictionary: "GZHA-"]. Dzongkha-English Online Dictionary. Dzongkha Development Commission, Government of Bhutan. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
- ↑ Levy, John (1971). "Note for Tashi Laso (track 1)". Tibetan Buddhist Rites from the Monasteries of Bhutan, Vol IV (Media notes). Lyrichord. p. 3.
- ↑ Drukpa, Jigme (2000). "Lhodrak Marpai Zhab (track 5)". Endless Songs from Bhutan (Media notes). Norway Music.