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People & Culture Of Bhutan |
The Bhutanese culture is one
most cautiously protected and well conserved
cultures in the world. The people of Bhutan
realize that other than their centuries old
culture and revered values, there is little else
that is exclusive to their small and less
developed country. In a bid to prevent their
ancient customs from being influenced by the
West, the Bhutanese government has made it
mandatory for all Bhutanese to wear only their
national dress in public.
All Bhutanese art-dance, drama and music-is
steeped in Buddhism. The paintings are not
produced for tourists, but for religious
purposes; festivals are not quaint revivals, but
living manifestations of a national faith; and
almost all art, music and dance represents the
struggle between good and evil. These traditions
can be seen in all their glory at Bhutan 's
spectacular religious festivals called Tsechus.
The largest and most colorful festivals take
place at Bhutan's dzongs and monasteries once a
year, especially in honor of Guru Rimpoche. They
are normally celebrated in spring and autumn.
Tsechus consist of up to five days of
spectacular pageantry, masked dances and
religious allegorical plays that have remained
unchanged for centuries. Besides being a vital
living festival and an important medium of
Buddhist teaching, tsechus are huge social
gatherings. Bhutanese revel and exult together,
dressed in their finest clothes and jewelry, in
a welcoming ambiance where humor and devotion go
hand in hand. For guests, the tsechu provides an
ideal opportunity to appreciate the essence of
the Bhutanese character.
The Bhutanese diet is rich in meat, dairy, grain
(particularly rice) and vegetables. Emadachee,
made with green hot chilies and cheese stew, is
considered the national dish with many
interpretations to this recipe throughout the
kingdom. Meat dishes, mainly pork, beef and yak,
are lavishly spiced with chilies, and it is
common to see bright red peppers drying on
rooftops in the sun. Salted butter tea, or suja,
is served on all social occasions. Though there
is plenty of white rice, Bhutanese prefer a
local, slightly nutty, red variety. At high
altitudes, wheat is the staple. Several
Tibetan-style dishes are common, including momos
(dumplings), and thukpa (noodles). Pork fat is
popular in the wilds because of its high-energy
content. Chang, a local beer, and ara, a spirit
distilled from rice, maize, wheat or barley, are
also common and widely favored. Doma or betel
nut is offered as a customary gesture of
greeting. |
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