In this episode of 80 Days we’ll be talking about Bhutan a small, landlocked Asian nation with one of the best flags you’ll ever see. Bhutan is a country of less than a million people, bordered by the Tibetan region of China to the North and India pretty much everywhere else. Exploring Bhutan for you are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Hong Kong, the UK and Switzerland, respectively. (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle)
It’s the last of the Himalayan Buddhist kingdoms, which unlike Tibet and Sikkim has retained its independence. Also known as , the “Land of the Thunder Dragon” due to the prevalence of the Drukpa Lineage school of Buddhism (aka the Dragon People). Bhutan is a strongly Bhuddist country, which remained and cut off from the outside world for much of its history. It is one of only a few countries to have been independent throughout its entire history, never conquered, occupied, or governed by an outside power. Since opening its borders to tourists in the 1970s, Bhutan has embraced democracy and now it famously promotes the concept of gross national happiness which is reflected in the Bhutan Gross National Happiness Index.
Paro Taktsang/Tiger’s Nest (by Arian Zwegers)
Recommended reading/listening
- History of Bhutan by Dr Lopen Karma Phuntsho (Random House 2013) – a very comprehensive history
- An article about archaeology in Bhutan, from the 2013 Annual Report of SLSA, gives a good insight into the early history of the region: “Archaeology in the Kingdom of Bhutan: Exploring the Country’s Prehistory” (P. Fux, C. Walser, N. Tshering)
- Paro Taktsang: The Breathtaking Himalayan Cloud Monastery (Bryan Hill, 2015, Ancient Origins) tells the story of Guru Rinpoche/Padmasambhava, an important figure in the nation’s religious history and the stunning monastery (pictured above) associated with him
- Drukpa Kunley was a “divine madman” and beloved “patron saint” of Bhutan, who wielded a euphemistic “flaming thunderbolt” is worth reading more about – he is an unexpected lewd and drunken hero in a tradition often seen as mild-mannered and serene
- Tibet, Buddhism and Bhutan – podcast by r/askhistorians dealing with the era where the Zhabdrung came to Bhutan from Tibet in the 1600s, unifying the country
- National Geographic article including photographs of the coronation of the first Dragon King, Ugyen Wangchuck, taken in 1907 by British colonial administrator John Claude White, who was based in Sikkim at the time, accompanied by his accounts of the people, place and culture he saw
- Asia’s Monarchies: Land of the Thunder Dragon is a 2010 documentary produced by Off the Fence which gives the history of the Wangchuck Dynasty of Druk Gyalpo (Dragon Kings) from Ugyen Wangchuck to the current king Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
- Is Bhutan On to Something with Gross National Happiness – a podcast from Stuff You Should Know discussing Bhutan’s unique political indicator in a bit more detail
- When TV Came to Bhutan – BBC Witness program about the change that came in 1999 when TV was introduced to the kingdom, discussing the effects with people who remember it
- Fast Forward into Trouble – 2003 article in The Guardian about introduction of TV and changes to the society; this article really emphasises increases in crime
- We mentioned how in the post-internet Bhutan, some Buddhist teachers now have a Facebook presence to exist in the modern world – one example is Venerable Lhalung Sungtrul Rinpoche, the current incarnation of the Terton Pema Lingpa (an associate of Guru Rinpoche)
- For those who can read German, you can delve a little deeper into the unexpected, yet geographically logical, connections between landlocked mountainous countries – Switzerland and Bhutan, best exemplified by Fritz Maurer’s Swiss cheese factory and brewery in the Himalayas. Jill Worrell of the NZ Herald also did a brief profile of Maurer, the first cheesemaker in 2007 (in English)
- Bhutan is no Shangri-La by Vidhyapati Mishra, writing in the New York Times writing about the experiences of the ethnic Nepali Lhotshampa refugees who were forced out of Bhutan in the 1990s
- Bhutan charms, but Shangri-La is no paradise by Belinda Goldsmith (Reuters, 2012): an article about the evolving tourism industry since the country has opened up to foreigners
- This Country Isn’t Just Carbon Neutral – It’s Carbon Negative – a TED talk by Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay; as well as interesting details about Bhutan’s environmental policies, Tobgay gives insight into how modern Bhutan sees its place in the world and the importance of its culture and traditions
- Music links: Endless Song of Bhutan: Thrung thrung karmoi lu; and a selection of Tibetan and Bhutanese music from Traditional Music Channel
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