Bhutan

Overview

The country, which is almost three quarters covered by forests, is not well known to much of the world. This has resulted in wondrous spectacle of nature and man that have not been destroyed or tainted by certain aspects of world culture. The forests hold animals which many will only ever have seen in print or on a screen. The list is worthy of inclusion due to the exotic and rare nature of the creatures. It is possible to see Golan and Capped Languers, Red Panda, snow leopard, Bengal Tigers, Black bears, elephants, rhinos and yaks. The smaller scale has an extensive representation as well with many species of butterfly and thousands of plants. Many of the specimens are endangered and have medicinal uses so responsible tourism is especially important.

If lucky, a Tsechus will be observed. This is a Buddhist festival in honour of the saint who brought the religion to Bhutan, Guru Rinpoche. These are held in every district which is a boon to the visitor who will also be able to spend some time looking a the variety of Dzong , Chortens and monateries which are in their collective thousands across the countryside. Dzong were fortresses built to counter the Tibetian invading forces. Chortens, which continue to be built are part of the Buddhist culture, with a super example being the National memorial museum which has examples of Vajrayana Buddhist art. Lastly, monasteries remain very important to the country's people for religious and other events, in which they...more

History

It is believed the counrty got the name 'Bhutan' from the Sanskrit word 'Bhu-Uttan' which means 'High Land'. Another theory says that it comes from the Sanskrit word 'Bhots-ant' meaning 'end of Tibet or south of Tibet'. However, to the Bhutanese themselves, their country is known as "Druk Yul" and its inhabitants as 'Drukpa'.

In Bhutanese language, Druk means dragon and 'Druk-Yul' means 'the land of the Dragon'. This is because when the sect of Buddhism, which was later to become the dominant religion in Bhutan was first initiated at the Ralung monastery in Tibet, 'a loud roar of the thunder dragon' was heard echoing to the south. This was taken as an auspicious sign that the sect would fluorish in the south of Tibet, where Bhutan is, and the sect was named as the 'Drukpa sect'. The country where this sect later flourished was henceforth known as 'Druk-yul'.

To this day, the state religion of Bhutan is 'Drukpa Kargyud' although other sects are almost equally popular and tolerated.

One thing that all Bhutanese are proud of is that Bhutan was never colonised. Despite many wars with Tibet, and some rough encounters with the British, Bhutan always managed to remain independent.

Recorded histroy begins from around the 8th century AD. In the 8th century, the great Tantric mystic Guru Padmasambhava (more popularly known as Guru Rimpoche in Bhutan) came to Bhutan from Swat, present-day Pakistan, and spread the Buddhist faith through the land, planting the seeds of the culture that flourishes today. Temples and...more