With a bit of juggling I managed to time my trip to Bhutan to coincide with not one, but two festivals. The first was the largest in Bhutan- Thimphu Tsechu. Deeply religious, this festival is held in the consecrated grounds of the Tashichhodzong in the Bhutan capital Thimphu and at the end of the four days of dances, blessings by the monks are given to attendees. Its a time for the Bhutanese to lay down their rice cutters, scrub up in their best gear and hit what is essentially an extremely large, unshaded courtyard in an impressive building housing the offices of the Kingdom and the central monastic body for four days of sitting in the sun watching a variety of dances designed to promote happiness and an enlightened mind. It would be my second time in Bhutan to get a gold star for blessings!!
During the masked dances, the monks fall into a trance and take on the spirit of the deities they are representing. In doing so, evil spirits are conquered so that Buddhism can flourish and misfortunes are removed for the spectators. The Government is very quick to warn tourists that these are religious festivals, they are not put on for tourists, and dressing up in good clothes and not drinking, smoking, dancing, talking loudly or running is the only acceptable behaviour. And so it was that i found myself spending 6 hours in the sun, no hat (as its a religious site), feeling like a bit of a prawn amongst the locals with their gold threads. Not as much of a prawn however as a few tourists who had gone the whole nine yards and bought local costumes...right down to the surreal but rather special boots which I saw very few people wearing.
 |
| Young girls coming in to watch the festival |
Twenty four folk songs and twenty five sacred dances are performed over the four days. I only had time however to do a bit of day three and some of day four. Which I have to admit, given the rather monotonous background music (bit like their food) and the fact Id sadly positioned myself right outside the speakers in the full sun like a beginner on my first trip, I think is more than enough! Thankfully, brochures explaining the dances had been given to me by my tour operator who I knocked off for the day as I thought it was a bit cruel, despite the blessings angle, to spend the whole day in the sun with me. Such is the sacredness of these festivals however that he actually left me then came back by himself to watch the dancing.
 |
| Dance of the Stag and the Hounds 2nd part |
 |
| Dance of the stag and the hounds 2nd part |
This clash of drums and symbols that went on for three hours was perhaps one of the more painful of all the dances but none more so in the Dance of the Stag and the Hounds.
Two people- representing two hounds- rolled around themselves in yellow garb from one side of the square to the other for a few hours.
Now, conscious that culture is protected by the passing down of stories, one can only balance it by reporting what the two hours of this dance was all about. The story is about the conversion to Buddhism of a hunter named Gonpo Dorji by a great saint called Jetsun Milarepa. Jetsun was meditating and heard a stag shaking with fear so he sang a song and the stag lay down. The hunting dog then arrived and the saint did the same….and then the hunter arrived in the clearing. The hunter was enraged and shot an arrow which the saint deflected and told him to listen to a story. The hunter became overcome on hearing about the story and repented and converted to Buddhism, the latter which is represented by the rope that the dogs and the hunter jump over.
The philosophy is that even cruel people can be changed to embrace the Dharma.
 |
| A clown (i think!!) |
 |
| One of the clowns who runs around the dancers mimicking them...and also collecting monies from the audience |
 |
| The venue...one side of it at least. All the monks get to sit in the shade on the second and third storey |
My second day of the festival started rather much like the day before albeit Id determined the better positioning to be in so didn't have to subject quite as much of my ears to the clash of the drums and the odd horn noises.
 |
| Dance of the judgement of the dead |
The Dance of the Judgement of the Dead is based on the Book of the Dead, a text hidden by Guru Rinpoche and later rediscovered by Karma Lingpa in 14
th century. It is about the "Bardo", a state where the departed spirit exists with the mind and the body for a period of 49 days before rebirthing into the fields of no suffering. This dance, which was over 2 hours long, included an ox leading one row of 14 dancers and a stag the other lions of dancers. The costumes were rather amazing- reflecting how animal faced guardian deities in the Bardo state judge the dead person's evil and virtuous deeds....a process which in this dance takes a few hours!
 |
| Dance of the judgement of the dead |
 |
| Dance of the Heroes |
The heroes, named as they are wearing five kinds of ornaments on the body, hold a small drum and bell. Their role is to awaken the gods of the tantras from their sleep of ignorance. This dance was seen by the great Treasure Revealer Pema Lingpa in the paradise of Guru Rinpoche. In the dance the heroes and the heroines perform a range of dances. It was one of the prettier ones!
 |
| Dance of the Ging and Tsoling...this is the Ging |
This is a dance initiated by Guru Rinpoche to show the people of Tibet his paradise. The Ging dance is about the treasure discoverers and disciples being present in the company of fairies and heroes and deities who perform offerings. The dance of the Tsolingis about the four Guardian Kings of the Directions who command an army who subdue all demons and enermies who are creating obstacles to the doctrine of Buddha. People whistle during the dance to chase away evil spirits and the Ging hit people on the head to chase away impurities from the body. This dance gives blessings to those who witness it and removes obstacles fro the doctrine of Buddha.
 |
| A clown |
 |
| One of the new dances devised by the head monk |
 |
| A couple chat |
 |
| the venue |
Bumthang Festival...the second one I attended. This one involved a 7 hour drive west through Bhutan. The festival was very different to Thimphu, largely due to the fact it was a rural festival so there were less people and less tourists...ie I saw 5 all day. Very different to Thimphu in terms of the number of dances and the number of days as the festival was a day long event, and only involved a cast of four people doing a dance for 30 minutes before torching some hay in a field.
 |
| the haystacks...pre torching |
Im probably underestimating the significance of torching hay in a field….it was two 8 foot high hay stacks about 2 feet apart which were then torched. All the locals then ran between the two flaming stacks to cleanse themselves of their sins and receive blessings.
 |
| The firelighters |
 |
| the monks coming out to give blessings |
It was a bit frightening the first ten minutes due to the crush of people trying to get through as people at the front tripped and had to get pulled out of the burning hay.
Meanwhile the whole area was covered in smoke making visibility hard and burning the eyes of all the people trying to give assistance to the fallen people. Add to the combination of torched polyester in their garments and it was a bit of a screaming, crying bit at the beginning.
 |
| The torchers...looking very happy with themselves |
Page marked or tear out of book....well from a cultural point of view it was very interesting. But as you watch it starved due to the poor food Id be leaving Bhutan off the list for a bit!
Meanwhile the whole area was covered in smoke making visibility hard and burning the eyes of all the people trying to give assistance to the fallen people. Add to the combination of torched polyester in their garments and it was a bit of a screaming, crying bit at the beginning.
