Language, culture and identity...

Mind our language

On 24 June 2009, H.E Pavan K. Verma, India’s ambassador to Bhutan, talked about Culture, Identity and Globalization. The talk, which was organized by the Centre for Bhutan Studies, was attended by wide cross section of people, from scholars, teachers and civil servants to consultants, businesswomen and politicians. Ambassador Verma, an accomplished scholar and writer, [...]

Targeting the rain...

archery targets

Yangphel Archery’s second knockout round began today. The 14 winning teams and 10 “joker” teams from this round will make it to the quarter finals. And the 8 winners plus one joker from the quarterfinals will play the semifinals. The tournament began on 4th July. And during the last seven weeks 182 matches were played. [...]

The Musk...

Musk Nepali Thali

About a hundred years ago, a Haap left Bhutan for Kalimpong. He didn’t return home, choosing, instead, to settle down, with other Bhutanese, in Dolopchen, a small hamlet near Pedong. Several generations later, his great granddaughter, Deki Lhamu, is back in Bhutan. And, together with her husband, Jigme Norbu, she owns and runs Musk, a [...]

Yangphel’s record...

Old archers

Yesterday, Tob Dhen Dhey accomplished what many archers considered the impossible: they shattered the 60-karey barrier by hitting 61 kareys in 15 rounds. That’s an average of 12.2 kareys per person. That’s an average of 4.07 team kareys per round. That’s impossible to beat. Yangphel has already entered Tob Dhen Dhey’s 61 kareys in their [...]

Yangphel’s gift...

13th yangphel archery

A record 154 teams are participating in the 13th Yangphel Archery Tournament that began last Saturday. During the “league phase” of the tournament, each team will play three matches. And three teams compete against each other in match. So the stadium in Changlimithang will see a total of 154 league matches over six weeks. This [...]

Archery stars...

A big hit

This week’s featured photo is again about archery. The finals of the Silver Jubilee Coronation Tournament, which was, till 1998, called the Coronation Cup, concluded yesterday. As predicated, Team Phojas won the coveted trophy. But Team MPAB put up a good fight. They won the second game. And matched the Team Phojas karey for karey [...]

Archery finals...

Also beautiful

The 2009 National  Coronation Cup archery finals are being played in the Changlimithang grounds. Team Phoja, who are widely regarded as the strongest team this season, needed just four rounds to win the first game. The score: 25 – 0. And the time: only 10:30 AM. Most spectators were resigned to a quick second game, [...]

Talo archery...

mila-tobgay-archery

I was in Puankha over the weekend to participate in a friendly game of archery in Talo. The game was organized by the local people to celebrate the inauguration of the Talo Sherda library by Her Majesty the Queen Mother Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck. Built by the Zhabdrung, Talo’s historic archery grounds have seen fierce [...]

National Zorig Day...

zorig-day2

About eight years ago, representatives from the National Technical Training Authority petitioned His Holiness the Je Khenpo to identify a deity to watch over skilled workers. His Holiness recognized Pel Dueki Khorlo (in Sanskrit, Kalachakra) as the Zorig Deity. His Holiness also declared the 15th day of the 3rd month as Zorig Day, and composed [...]

Traditional Day of Offering…for th...

Today, the 1st day of the 12th month, is celebrated as buelwa phuewi nyim – the traditional day of offering. The tradition of people making offerings to the Dratshang on this day seems to have been popularized as an expression of love, devotion and loyalty to Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. Today is also celebrated as chunipai [...]

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