Thimphu High Street

July 16, 2012Posted inMonarchy8 Comments
Thank you for taking part in the last Big Picture. Your answers were varied - Changangkha, Phobjikha, Gangtey, Wangdue, Paro, Bumthang, Dagana, Lhuntse and Thimphu town - and rightfully so. The old photo, after all, could have been taken anywhere in Bhutan. The picture, as you can now easily see, was taken outside the Tashichhodzong. It shows the beginnings of modern Thimphu complete with offices, shops and, in the background, the dzong undergoing major renovation and expansion. Dorji, "Pothery" and "River" all identified the place correctly. But the first correct answer came from Ugen, who wrote, "Settlement outside Tashichhodzong…

Pep-say

June 15, 2012Posted inVillages7 Comments
Thank you for participating in Big Picture -12. It was fun to follow your comments - most of you recognized the picture, but you still spent the time to craft interesting answers. Thank you. My favorite answer comes from "Thinlay", whose keen sense of observation, meticulous research and precise composition bags our prize: bragging rights! Here's the scholar's complete and  completely correct answer: It is a white plastic bottle with narrow neck and closed with modified wooden cap, and tied around the waist to ensure that it does not fall off while walking. The content could be anything from…

Freeing horses

September 14, 2011Posted inCulture11 Comments
Several of you identified the image in the last “Big picture” as a horse. That is correct. Well done. But Passang’s answer was the most accurate. He said that the image was a “Picture of the horse (lungta) on a faded prayer flag.” The big picture is, quite literally, a painting of a horse on an old prayer flag. In fact, the prayer flag, with the lungta (or windhorse) printed in the middle, is clearly visible in the painting. To Karma Wangdi, the artist, that lungta, drawn within a square border, looked confined and trapped. So he set it…

Big picture – 10

January 16, 2011Posted inGeneral25 Comments
We haven’t done this for a while. The first person to get the big picture wins a copy of “Treasures of the Thunder Dragon: A Portrait of Bhutan”.

Big picture – 9

March 14, 2010Posted inGeneral
Jigme Tshewang won the last Big Picture. But Jigme didn't claim the prize. So it goes to the first one who correctly figures out this picture.

Flowering forests

March 2, 2010Posted inGeneral
Almost everyone answered “Big picture – 8” correctly. Yes, the picture was part of an emerging rhododendron flower. And as Linda Wangmo suggested, I took the picture on my recent visit to Sombaykha Dungkhag in Haa. But Jigme Tshewang answered first. So Jigme wins the prize. Please contact me to claim the 2008 golden coronation badge. The area between Tergo-la (at about 3,800 m) and Taashi Thang (at about 1,800 m) is almost one continuous rhododendron forest. The forest is old. And it is pristine. Aum Rebecca Pradhan, a leading naturalist, estimates the forest to have about 35 species…

Big picture – 8

February 26, 2010Posted inGeneral
It’s been a while since we did a Big Picture. The first person to guess the big picture correctly wins a golden coronation badge of His Majesty the King.

Right tatoo

August 13, 2009Posted inMiscellaneous
The last big picture was easy. Too easy. Almost all of you seem to know the answer. Frankly, I'm amazed. And I feel silly. So I'm declaring the results before I feel any more sillier. Yes, it's a tattoo. Yes, it'sa tattoo of a dragon. And yes, it's a tattoo of a dragon on Jurmi Chhowing's left arm. Jurmi, who's also known as Taliman (not Taliban, dear Pompom), got this "lifetime marking for a temporary insanity", as Ugyen put it, at Naktsi Tattoo Parlour. The parlour is located in Lhaki Lam in lower Motithang. It is owned and run…

Leki

August 5, 2009Posted inMiscellaneous
In Big Picture – 3, many of you guessed that the sound was that of a bird, a cuckoo. Many others, however, chose to focus on the landscape and guessed, correctly, that the trees – the willows and pine – were in Taba, below my parents’ house. And one reader, a philosopher, saw the tranquility of weeping willows and pine trees coexisting peacefully, and suggested subtly that our political landscape needed more harmony. We do have a winner. It’s “ps” who wrote: “I think its some kid pretending be a cuckoo!” To claim your prize, please email me your…

The Big Picture – 3

August 3, 2009Posted inMiscellaneous
Okay, let’s make Big Picture a bit more interesting. Here’s an audio-visual clip. The first one to correctly identify what the Big Picture is wins a commemorative Nu 100 coin celebrating His Majesty’s the King’s coronation last year. It’s the Big Picture – 2 prize that was not claimed. Enjoy