{"id":936,"date":"2019-10-15T10:11:51","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T10:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sibha.in\/sibhawprandom\/?p=936"},"modified":"2019-12-10T07:06:24","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T07:06:24","slug":"bhutan-the-land-of-happiness-part-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/55nda.com\/ndablog\/2019\/10\/15\/bhutan-the-land-of-happiness-part-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Bhutan : The Land of Happiness – Part 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part 3<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As per our Schedule we proceeded to Haa on the Morning of 7th Oct .<\/p>\n

\u00a0Happy people find time to celebrate. Celebrations need not wait for an event like a\u00a0 Birthday or a Wedding.\u00a0 Any fine day\u00a0 of clear sky and sunshine or a moonlit night can be and should be celebrated. My own suspicion is that ancient societies ‘invented ‘ birthdays of their favorite deities to coincide with pleasant weather conditions and full moon days.\u00a0 How is it that\u00a0 most full moon days are celebrated in some form or the other; Buddha Poornima, Guru Poornima, Kaarthiga Poornima , Gurpurab\u00a0 in Punjab Chitra Pournami in Tamilnadu and so on ? Of course Deepawali , as a festival of lights ,conveniently falls on a New moon day .<\/p>\n

Festivals , Tsechus, as they\u00a0 are called in Bhutan\u00a0 are rich and happy expressions of its ancient Buddhist culture. Vajrayana form of Buddhism has as many gods, goddesses and demons much like\u00a0 Hinduism. These festivals are held in all districts in honour of Guru Rinpoche, the saint who introduced Buddhism to Bhutan in the 8th century. Tsechus are held on auspicious days and months in the Bhutanese calendar, and last up to four days in which a series of highly stylised masked dance rituals are performed.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Festivals are also a big family and social occasions. People dress up in their finest clothes and most resplendent jewelry of coral and turquoise. They pack picnic lunches in their traditional bamboo baskets and stay all day at the festivals which are usually held in the dzongs (fortresses) or at monasteries.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
After a fierce monsoon from Jun to Sep, normally the Tshechus start in late Sep or Oct. The famous Thimpu Tsechu was starting on 8th Oct , a day after we were to leave Thimpu. But as luck would have it, we were going to Haa valley in the middle of a three day festival.<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Children , as everywhere else, make most of these occasions<\/div>\n
\n
\"\"
Kids in all fineries. Note the traditional Kira (dress) and the beads round their necks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Haa is the home for Indian Military Training Team.\u00a0 We stayed\u00a0 in some fine guest rooms of IMTRAT.\u00a0 We were tired after the not so long drive (three and a half\u00a0 hours ) from Thimpu . But\u00a0 before going to our rooms we went straight to the monastery to watch the mask dance for some time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After lunch and some rest ,we went back again. There was a huge downpour but the festivities went on . There were a number of shops around the monastery, but it was all toys and other knick-nacks , a gift to the ancients from our ‘developed’ plastic civilization.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It’s at the Non CSD Canteen of IMTRAT that we found many handicraft items and other\u00a0 items of clothing at reasonable rates. This shop was very popular among the locals who come from far off places to attend the fair.<\/p>\n

here are some videos<\/p>\n

\"loading
Loading Videos...<\/div><\/div>