BHUTAN

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CONTENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dimitra Stasinopoulou was born in Athens, Greece in 1953. After completing her studies, she worked in the banking sector for 20 years, and later on in the family pharmaceutical business in Romania. She discovered her love for photography the last few years. Her fist book “Romania of my heart”, published in December 2005, was awarded with the Romanian Unesco prize. Introduction 6 - 11 Paro Valley 12 - 79 Monastery Taktshang - “Tiger’s Nest” 80 - 91 Punakha & Wangdue Valleys 92 - 195 Βumthang Valley 196 - 257 Ura Festival 258 - 295 Thimphu, the capital 296 - 333 Schools in Haa Valley 334 - 347
INTRODUCTION I first heard about Bhutan only last November from a friend who had been there and was fascinated by its beauty. It was the first time I had heard of the word Bhutan and needless to say, I was clueless of where it could be located. Later on, I began to do some research on the country, which intrigued me even more, and in March 2008, I arrived tin the country for a two-week stay. Nestling in the heart of the Great Himalayas between India and China, often called the “Crown Jewel of the Himalayas”, Bhutan or “Druk Yul” in the Bhutanese language literally meaning” The Land of the Thunder Dragon”, does not often make headlines - actually it is even hard to find it on the map and has a size of 47,000 square kilometers, similar to that of Switzerland. A country of only 650,000 people, neighboring with India and China of three billion but still managing to maintain its identity, traditions and culture, make it indeed unique. It is the last independent country in the world adopting Buddhism as the state religion. The inhabitants are fiercely concerned about their independence and they have wisely safeguarded and preserved their rich culture and traditions, its ancient way of life, in all its aspects. Surprisingly, while most of the world, and especially Asia, go through various crises, in this small kingdom the genuine smiles of the people are flourishing. A unique aspect they have is that progress is not purely defined by economic achievements, as in most countries, but is based on the level of cultural and environmental preservation and development. They want prosperity but are not prepared to sacrifice their tradition and culture at any price. When the standard is production and consumption, Bhutan simply cannot compete, so it came up with its own way to measure progress. It is the place where Gross National Happiness -as their King says- is more important than Gross National Product. People here seem to have found the recipe for happiness. According to a study made by the University of Leicester in 2007, on the world’s 178 happiest countries, it is rated 8th (1st in Asia). Bhutan is not a rich country. Its poverty could not be hidden and of course is well apparent in several photographs. What is not apparent is misery and that is simply because it is non-existent. That enigma, the solution to which may lay to geographical solitude and religion, is vividly depicted in the joyful faces of its people. Preserving with great care, its myths, principles and traditions, Bhutan has set its own pace and is disinclined to keep up with the pace of the world. The profound wisdom of its people has lead their steps as it did for thousands of years, to experience and live their life in peace and tranquility, thus living a deeply spiritual life. The last kingdom of the Himalayas does not conform to the norms of most of the world, which lives in affluent and advanced technological societies. Perhaps the sayings « modern civilization is the source of our misery» or «our civilization, which rose in the east but sets in the west» hold some truth after all. Those two weeks in Bhutan were like nothing I had imagined. What I loved most was how flawless everything was. As you stroll through a vivid forest, you find yourself in the heart of a village, with houses made out of nothing but mud, stone and wood all gathered from the area around, without even realizing the difference between nature and civilization. The modern world seems very, very far away. The powerful sense of tradition and culture that you can almost feel in your skin, together with the eyes of these smiling magnificent people looking straight to your heart, captures your soul in an instant. The absence of roads gives distances a whole different meaning and one should be satisfied if he can cover 100 kilometers in one full day. When first confronting that, one becomes impatient thinking of how slow this pace is, but after a while gets to ponder is our everyday life in the modern world an example of a “normal” pace and where are we rushing to? Visiting the monasteries I had the opportunity to take a lot of pictures of the young monks. I was greeted by some of the warmest smiles imaginable. Possibly the greatest benefit of digital cameras is that they enable us to show someone the picture we just took. These monks rarely see themselves in a mirror and photos are prized possessions. Seeing such pure and simple excitement from these children was amazing At the end of each day I was imagining that the following one, could not possibly be better and that for all I had seen so far up until that moment, the journey had compensated me beyond any expectation. I was wrong however, since each following day kept being more surprising with more fascinating things to learn and discover. The last day, while visiting The Tiger’s Nest Monastery (the symbol of Bhutan); I thought to myself that I must have done something very good in my life to enable me to travel somewhere so far from my home and to such a magical place. I was standing at the top of the world, closer to the clouds then ever, the clean air, the fantastic view of the Himalayas with the prayer flags waving that made that moment unique giving me a sense of joy, fulfilment and serenity. It was then, that inside me the desire awakened to share all this joy with as many people as possible, and through the photographs of this book to convey even a tiny fraction of that smiling, unknown world that deserves to be discovered. Thus the idea of this album was born. It may be difficult to capture the beauty of a place and even harder to describe it, especially a magical land like Bhutan. I can only say that out of all the places I have visited, none has sent me back so changed as Bhutan. It is worth seeing. Not only for what you will feel there but most importantly for what memories you’ll take with you and treasure for the rest of your life. Home to a unique identity, is a deeply spiritual land deriving from its religious and cultural heritage. The people live life by the simplest and purest fashion adhering to the importance of human values and a broader purpose of life. Not only teaches us to honor the earth we live in, but most importantly it offers us an alternative perspective to measure our well being viewing material wealth as a means, not an end and therefore invites us to reevaluate our present way of life, so that we may achieve inner peace. I am grateful and deeply indebted to the authors of the books I used for my research. Their deep knowledge of the country helped me understand better what I was seeing and granted me precious input regarding the way of life, the religion and the culture of Bhutan. In fact the completion of this book would have been impossible without their contribution. FEW WORDS ABOUT <strong>BHUTAN</strong> Geography and deliberate political policy has closed Bhutan off from the outside world. The country had no paved roads, no electricity, no cars, no telephones, no post office services, and no tourists. Trade depended on barter. In the 1970’s their first paved road was opened and in 1983 they build an airport in Paro valley. In the end of the millennium, in 1999, Bhutan granted its citizens access to television. Internet and cell phones were introduced in 2003. It is the last country on the planet to do so. Druk Air is Bhutan’s national airline and the only one that flies to the country. They have only two airplanes and one destination Paro, being the smallest, most unique airline in the world. The flight to Bhutan is an experience, having flown over Mt Everest the plane lands in a narrow valley in the middle of rice fields and farmhouses. The country has opened its borders to foreign visitors in 1975 and in effort to preserve its culture and environment and minimize any negative impact on their traditions; it restricted the number to about 5,000 a year, imposing a $220 per day fee. Still, since the country is voted as one of the world’s top travel destinations, there were 20,000 tourists last year, nearly ten times as many as in 1991. The location of the country and its countryside scenery is unique. It is a land of great diversity, with dense jungles, valleys of rice fields, alpine highlands, and towering peaks of the Himalayas. 8 9
Page 1 and 2: BHUTAN Smiling faces from the roof
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Page 9 and 10: Paro Dzong 15
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Chimie Lhakhang Temple 143
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146 Wangdue Phodrang Dzong Wangdue
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178 Ura Tsechu Festival, Bumthang
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Trongsa Dzong 183
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190 Trongsa Dzong Trongsa Dzong 191
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Jakar 243
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248 Bumthang Bumthang 249
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Tamshing Goemba Monastery, Bumthang
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Tamshing Goemba Monastery, Bumthang
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260 Ura Festival, Bumthang
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264 Ura Festival, Bumthang Ura Fest
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Ura Festival, Bumthang 285
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TASHICHHO DZONG: It delights the ey
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300 Thimphu
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304 Taschichho Dzong, Thimphu
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314 School of Arts and Crafts, Thim
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Arts & Crafts Museum, Thimphu 319
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322 Zilukha Nunnery, Thimphu
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326 Thimphu Thimphu 327
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Simtokha Dzong 333
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336 School, Haa Valley School, Haa
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BHUTAN

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