Spent
Saturday at Mountain Echoes, “The Bhutan Festival of Literature, Art, and
Culture.” The festival ran for three
days, and I was there for its last day.
I heard talks about long-ago village traditions, Animism in the
Himalayas, Food as Aphrodisiac, tales from Waheeda Rehman, a Bollywood film
star, and saw a couple of short films by Bhutanese directors. The programs were quite interesting, and we
were joined by one of the Queen-mothers (there are four of them, all married to
the previous king) for the afternoon!
Sunday
included a visit to Trashi Chhoe Dzong,
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| North entry to the Dzong |
a Buddhist monastery and fortress on
the northern edge of Thimphu the western bank of the Wang Chu River. The high-security complex houses a large
monastery and a beautiful temple on one side. The fortress has served as the seat of Bhutan's civil government since 1952 and buildings on the other side house the throne room and offices of the king, the secretariat and the
ministries of home affairs and finance. Other government departments are housed
in buildings nearby.
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| Monks' quarters |
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| Prayer wheels |
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| Offices of the King |
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| Joy with a proud Royal Guard |
.JPG) |
| Artwork in the monastery |
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| Artwork of "The Four Friends" |
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