Lu (ཀླུ་) or a naga according to Buddhist belief is a subterranean being. The lubum (ཀླུ་འབུམ) or naga house are constructed in very much keeping with the experience of ancient tradition and customs. Countless subterranean beings live in the water and earth, and their images are seen all over Bhutan. The spirits called nagas are … More Lubum: Dwellings for the Serpents

The folk song, Yak Legpai Lhadar (གཡག་ལེགས་པའི་ལྷ་དར་), is a sad story of a yak by that name. The song shows how nomads rears yaks as they do their children. The song mentions how the yak is given a name, looked after affectionately and involved in a deep bond with the nomad but is tragically taken … More Yak Legpai Lhadar:A Sentimental Song

Auwley (ཨའུ་ལེགས་) is a local festival observed every year in Laya, a remote community in northern Bhutan. It takes place on the 15th day of the 9th lunar month of the Bhutanese calendar. The festival primarily commemorates the arrival of the founder of Bhutan, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651), in Laya in 1616 on his way … More (ཨའུ་ལེགས) The Laya Festival of Awley

Countdown-3 days to go……Chunyipai Losar The first day of the twelfth lunar month is celebrated as a New Year in many parts of Bhutan. It marks the beginning of the year according to the astrological calculations taught in the Lama Gongdue (བླ་མ་དགོངས་འདུས་) teachings of Sangay Lingpa (1340-1396). The common Bhutanese calendar was aligned with the … More བཅུ་གཉིས་པའི་ལོ་གསར by Dr. Karma Phuntsho & Sonam Chophel

Wish You a happy Chunyipai Losar in advance, countdown-3 days to go The first day of the twelfth lunar month is celebrated as a New Year in many parts of Bhutan. It marks the beginning of the year according to the astrological calculations taught in the Lama Gongdue (བླ་མ་དགོངས་འདུས་) teachings of Sangay Lingpa (1340-1396). The common … More བཅུ་གཉིས་པའི་ལོ་གསར by Dr. Karma Phuntsho & Sonam Chophel

In keeping with the policy and to promote environment-friendly technologies, the government proposed to a major tax revision and duties on hybrid cars in Bhutan. To tap into the country’s hydro power potential and to reduce the dependency on the import of fossil fuels, the sale tax and custom duty on the import of hybrid … More Proposal to the Government-Tax on Hybrid Vehicles in Bhutan-Sonam Chophel

Tshogchang (ཚོགས་ཆང་) is a traditional welcome used by local communities to receive guests. It is a popular custom in the eastern part of Bhutan. Alcohol is an important item to serve in the Bhutanese culture tshogchang (ཚོགས་ཆང་). Whenever any official visits a community, it is customary of the people there to collect a jandom barrel … More (ཚོགས་ཆང་) Custom of offering Tshogchang

Samkhar village in Samkhar gewog Before the place is called Shangyel. As per the information from the village elders, it had been named so because it used to be the sleeping place of wild animals in the past. Today people call it Samkhar. Rangshikhar village in Samkhar gewog When Trashigang dzong were ruled by Dzongpons, … More The Village Etymology in the gewog of Samkhar, Yangnyer, Kanglung, Urozong, Khaling, Lumang and Kangpar.

The spirits are closely associated with particular places on the landscape such as forest patches, as well as rocks and cliffs understood to be their abodes (Phodrang).  The neydag is the guardian of a sacred site and keylha, the deity of the birthplace, is a protector deity. The Bhutanese cultural world has a rich range of … More Four main powerful local deities in Pangzam Khamey

Thongrong village in Phongmey gewog Thongrong village is located other side of the Gamri Chhu river. The village is separated from the Phongmey gewog office by Gamrichu River, lies on the other side of the river en- route to Sakteng gewog. The people of that village are the Dakpa migrated from the Mon Tawang in … More The Village Etymology in the Gewog of Phongmey, Radhi, Sakteng, Merak, Bartsham, Bidung and Shongphoog.