Bhutan - Fairs and Festivals

Fairs and Festivals of Bhutan

The festivals in Bhutan are colourful and joyous affairs. They are also very important to the Bhutanese and are an essential part of their lives. These festivals are celebrations of faith, legends, myths and history of Bhutan in ancient rituals of colourful dance and music. The most popular for tourists are those held in Thimphu, Paro and Bumthang.

The festivals, or tsechus, consist of dancing and music. These Tsechus are festivals extolling the great deeds of Guru Rinpoche. The biography of the guru is highlighted by a 12-episode dance drama. The festivities can last between two to five days. During these festivals, the valley dwellers and towns folk dress in their finest clothes and gather at the various venues, which are normally cobbled courtyards of the Fortresses. They join together to exorcise evil spirits and rejoice in a new harvest. Rare masked and sword dances and other rituals are performed here. Each dance has its own significance and can be performed by monks or lay men dressed in bright costumes. During the dances, atsaras (clowns) mimic the dancers and perform comic routines wearing maska with long red noses. The dancers take on the aspects of wrathful and compassionate deities, heroes, demons and animals. The dances, known as cham, bring blessings upon the one lookers, instruct them in the dharma ( Buddhist Teachings), protect them from misfortune and exorcise evil influences. The thesu is a religious festival and people they gain merit by attending it.

During some festivals a small fair is erected outside the dzong or goemba. Some of the stalls offer various kinds of gambling for astonishingly high stakes. Watch the fortune tellers with Tashi-go-mang, miniature, multistorey temples with tiny doors that open to reveal statues of deities. Many visitors come to Bhutan to enjoy the most popular festivals, which are held in Paro in the spring and in Thimphu and Bumthang in the fall. Festivals are well worth attending because they give you a different sense of the Bhutanese culture, plus they're fun and entertaining. An atmosphere of excitement, happiness with humour prevails.