About Bhutan

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Facts about Bhutan

Hidden deep in the folds of Himalaya Mountains for years, Bhutan developed its own civilization the population of about 600,00 people, living in close harmony with nature, evolved a unique identity, derived largely from a rich religious and culture heritage. Today the world is seeing many exotic aspects of this kingdom.

Bhutan is increasingly known for its pure practice of Mahayana Buddhism in the tantric form, its rich culture, its pristine ecology and wildlife, and the unparalleled scenic beauty of its majesty peaks and lush valleys. It is still, in many ways, a magical kingdom of the past.

It is a matter of great pride to the Bhutanese that their small kingdom was never colonized. Its ancient history, which is a mixed of the oral tradition and classical literature, tells of largely self-sufficient population, which has limited contact with the outside world until the turn of the century.

Among the earliest landmark of Bhutanese history visible today are two 7th Century monasteries, the Kyichu Lhakhang in Paro and Jambay Lhakhang in Bumthang. Both these deeply revered monasteries have been preserved and developed over the centuries.

In the eight century Guru Rimpoche (Padmasambhava), established several scared religious sites, which are important places of pilgrimage for the Buddhist world today.

Perhaps the most dynamic era in Bhutanese history came in the 17th century with the arrival in 1616, of Shabdrung Nawang Namgyel, the great leader of the Drukpa School of Mahayana Buddhism.

Over the next 30years Shabdrung Nawang Namgyel unified the country and established the foundation for national governances and the Bhutanese identity. Starting with the Simtokha Dzong in Thimphu, the Shabdung constructed important dzongs, monasteries, and religious institution and firmly established Drukpa Kagyu as the state religion.

The Shabdrung also left as his legacy the Dual system of government the temporal and theocratic with Je Khenpo (The Chef Abbot) as the religious head and the temporal leader known as Desi. This system took Bhutan to the turn of the 19th century, until the birth of the Wangchuk dynasty and establishment of hereditary Monarchy in 1907.