Thimpu Tshechu!

Recently here in Thimpu autumn has arrived. After celebrating blessed rainy day last tuesday, indeed in the last few days a noticeable shift has occurred. The sky has cleared up, the nights and mornings are a bit colder and a kind of crispness has arrived driving away the monsoon season. These last couple of days I have noticed a new mountain peak that I had not seen in the previous 5 weeks that i've been here in Thimpu.

I went to buy a Gho (the traditional wear for men) a few days ago ahead of the Thimpu Tshechu which began today and will go on until Wednesday. Chimmi, my neighbor took me to buy one, and along with the Gho I had to purchase long stockings, an under-gho (underwear piece), a belt, and the kabne, the scarf that one has to wear. These Ghos come in so many different types of colorful designs. The difficulty with the Gho lies with the very complicated method of wearing it. Pema came over a few nights ago and helped me put it on, but it quickly became clear that I will not be able to put the Gho on myself anytime soon. It is a demanding process, both in terms of accuracy, understanding space, having precise skill and coordination, while also maintaining a certain kind of strength. There are many subtle important things that one has to be aware of when putting on the Gho, and furthermore everything has to be very tidy. And because one needs to have the Gho stay in place all day long, the belt is tied so tight!

Even the act of then later folding the Gho is a demanding task, with precise and important rules and methods on how to do it. Not to mentioned that I tried learning how to put on the kabne, and though it appears quite a bit more manageable then putting on the Gho the learning curve for even this simple matter is steep.

Small things matter with Ghos. What kind of fabric you’re using. For example mine is a cotton one, and one wears cotton or wool (in winter) for ordinary occasions, but Bhutanese will wear their best silk or raw silk Ghos for the Tshechu. Bhutanese have many Ghos in their closets and Pema showed me his Ghos, including several that he inherited from his father that are quite beautiful antiques, including one silk one from Tibet.

Early this morning my friend Tshering Dorji and his friend Karma came to pick me up to go to the Tshechu which is happening at the Thimpu Dzong. On the occaison of the Tshechu, Bhutanese will wear their finest Ghos and Kiras and so it seemed like a great opportunity for me to wear my Gho for the first time in public. Tshering and Karma had to help me put it on properly and then we were on our way.

Tsheschus are religious festivals held in honor of Guru Rinpoche, commemorating his great deeds. Guru Rinpoche, the "precious master", is believed to have brought Tantric Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet in the 8th century AD. The Nyingmapa religious school considers him to be their founder and the Second Buddha. Anyway "these great deeds are believed to have taken place on the 10th of the month, which is the meaning of the word tshechu". Each district Dzong in Bhutan has an annual Tshechu and they usually happen on and around the 10th of various months (different months for every district) according to the Bhutanese Calendar. Tshechus feature many religious dances performed by monks and laymen and the same dances appear pretty much the same everywhere. (Bhutan:Himalayan Mountain Kingdom, Pommaret).

The Thimpu Tsheche is quite a tourist attraction and it is said that these three days in September are some of the busiest tourist days in the calendar in Bhutan. And indeed, in the Dzong courtyard where the Tshechu was held today you could spot many tourists with their cameras and western clothes, and yet still, the overwhelming majority of the people in attendance were Bhutanese. And one is left realizing how very few tourists actually come to Bhutan as compared to other places in the world.

The dances are accompanied by dronal music, bells ringing at constant intervals helping to guide the dancers and provide a rhythmical framework for the dance, while the long and very low sounding horns provide a carpet of dronal sound. There were also a few traditional songs, sung by both men and women, accompanied by dance.

Sitting in the Dzong courtyard which was full with thousands of people, all dressed in their colorful ghos and kiras, roasting in the sun (sometimes using their kabnes and rachungs as head covers) with the backdrop of a clear blue sky, and the majestic mountains I felt a great sense of calm actually as I was watching these dances. We spent several hours, watching what in the west might be considered a very slow form of entertainment, and yet I was totally engaged and immersed in the color, the movement and the sounds all around me. Not only the dancers, but the people surrounding me. Despite the sun and the hunger, I felt that I could happily sit there all day and watch these dances I didn’t quite understand (yet), mesmerized as I was.

Photos to follow very shortly...

-Noam