The objective of setting up the museum is to promote Bhutan’s achievements in the field of textile arts and to sustain and promote interest of the weavers to continue the traditional textile patterns. The museum also envisions to become the centre for textile studies and research. The purpose is also to promote the history and culture of Bhutan.

Other Information

• Established : 2001
• Location : Thimphu, Bhutan
• Type : Textiles
• Director : National Commission for Cultural Affairs
• President : Patron Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck

The festival is a blend of Hindu Tantrik and animistic harvest festival traditions. On the first day, called Ghatasthapana, the “Dashain Ghar”, or special worship room, is set up—this room is used to worship the Astha-Matrikas (the 8 tantrik Goddesses) as well as the Nava Durgas (the 9 Goddess Durga), to whom the festival is consecrated. Married women will say the mantras for the next fifteen days, and guard the goddesses. Barley is sowed on big earthern pots which have a coating of cow dung. These seeds will sprout in ten days. The sprouts, which symbolize a good harvest, will be decoratively placed on the heads of family members later on in the festival as a blessing.

On the seventh day, Fulpaati, the town of Gorkha sends an offering of flowers to Kathmandu. A band associated with the army also plays its music and goes through the old core of Kathmandu.

The eighth day, Asthami, is the day of animal sacrifices. Goddess temples all over the Kathmandu Valley receive sacrifices, ranging from male goats and water buffaloes to ducks and chickens. Blood, symbolic for its fertility, is offered to the Goddesses. This meat is taken home and cooked as “prasad”, or food blessed by divinity. This food is offered, in tiny leaf plates, to the household Gods, then distributed amongst the family. Eating this food is thought to be auspicious.

Sacrifices continue on Navami, the ninth day. Families will visit various temples around the Kathmandu Valley. On the tenth day, “Dashami,” a mixture of rice, yogurt and vermillion will be prepared by the women. This preparation is known as “tika”. Elders put this on the forehead of younger relatives to bless them with fertility and abundance in the upcoming year. The red also symbolizes the blood that ties the family together. Elders will give “Dakshina”, or a small amount of money, to younger relatives at this time. The tika continues for five days, during which time people also gather to play cards around massive amounts of food and drink.

In several parts of Nepal, Dashain is the only time of the year when people receive a set of new clothing. Likewise, in poorer families, the animal sacrifice is eagerly anticipated since it might be the only animal protein the family would eat all year. This may be true in certain parts of Nepal where food is in low supply, but is less so in the cities. In general, the tradition of sacrifice is lessening with the easy availability of meat for daily consumption, and with the influences of Vaishnav Hindus (who are vegetarian).

Dashain in year 2010 started on 8th October 2010.

The Chorten (Stupa) was built by Lama Ngawang Loday in 1740 in memory of his late uncle, Jungshu Pesan and also to subdue a demon that lived where the Chorten now stands.  It is believed to be a replica of the Boudhnath stupa in Nepal and was consecrated by the 13^th chief Abbot of Bhutan Je Sherub Wangchuk. Today, it is considered one of the most important historical Buddhist structures.

It was built so that pilgrims could visit the temple in Trashiyangtse instead of making a trip to Nepal. Further, a legend states that a young girl from Tawang, believed to have been a Khando (Dakini) agreed to be buried alive inside the Chorten. For this reason a ritual known as Dakpa Kora is organized every year where hundreds of people from Arunachal Pradesh known as the Dakpas make it to Chorten Kora to circumambulate.

Dakpa Kora is held on the 15^th day of the 3^rd month corresponding to 28^th February and Drukpa Kora (circumbulation by the Bhutanese) is held on the 30^th day corresponding to 15^th March every year.

Gomphu means “Meditation Cave” and Kora means “Circumambulation”. The name is derived from a cave formed out of a rock-face next to a temple that has been built as a tribute to this sacred site.

The story of Gomphu Kora goes back to the 8^th century AD. Legend has it that an evil non-human spirit named Myongkhapa escaped from Samye in Tibet when Guru Padmasambhava, the progenitor of the Nyingma strand of Buddhism, was spreading the Dharma in the Himalayas. Myongkhapa followed the course of the present-day Kholongchhu stream and concealed himself inside a rock where Gomphu Kora stands today. The Guru followed the evil, mediated for three days inside the rock cave and finally vanquished it.

Several prominent religious personalities have undertaken pilgrimage to Gomphu Kora and the earliest was Gongkhar Gyal, grandson of Lhasay Tsangma. He built a small shrine at Gomphu Kora around the 10^th century A.D. In the 14^th century, Terton Pema Lingpa, visited Gomphu Kora and enlarged the existing shrine. It was renovated and enlarged in the 15^th century by Yongzin Ngagi Wangchuk, the grandfather of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel. He also inscribed murals on the walls of the temple.

The biggest attraction of Gomphu Kora is the circumambulation. “Go around Gomphu Kora today for tomorrow may be too late”, so goes a local song that entices devotees to visit Gomphu Kora. And like herds of stampeding buffaloes, the place comes alive, once every year from 23^rd to 25^th March, when people all over eastern Bhutan descend upon the narrow valley, dressed in their finery, to partake in the festivity, to worship and to reunite themselves with their illustrious past.

The sanctity of the three day religious festival equally draws the Dakpa tribe in neighboring Arunachael Pradesh (India) who endures days of travel on foot amid rugged environs with entire families in tow. Some say the Dakpas have done this for more than a millennium, beginning shortly after Guru Padmasambhava sanctified the place in the 8^th century AD.

The Guru is attributed to have said that devotees will flock to Gomphu Kora for eons to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. There couldn’t be a more accurate prophesy.

Jampa Lhakhang is one of the oldest temples in the kingdom. It was founded by, Songtsen Gampo, a Tibetan King in the 7^th century AD.  The king was destined to build 108 temples known as Thadhul- Yangdhul (temples on and across the border) in a day to subdue the demoness that was residing in the Himalayas. The temple is one of the two of the 108 built in Bhutan. The other is the Kichu lhakhang in Paro, believed to have been built on the same day.

Legend has it that Guru Rinpoche visited the site several times and deemed it exceptionally sacred. Chakhar Gyab, the king of the Iron Castle of Bumthang renovated the temple in the 8^th century AD.

The first king of Bhutan,  Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuck constructed the Dus Kyi Khorlo (Kala Chakra- Wheel of Time) inside the temple, to commemorate his victory over his rivals Phuntsho Dorji of Punakha and Alu Dorji of Thimphu after the battle of Changlimithang in 1885. Later, Ashi Wangmo, the younger sister of the second king of Bhutan, built the Chorten lhakhang.

The main relics include the future Buddha, Jowo Jampa (Maitreya) from whose name the present name of the temple is derived.

The lhakhang also houses more than one hundred statues of the gods of Kalachakra built by the first king, in 1887. Here, one of the most spectacular festivals is hosted called Jambay lhakhang Drup that lasts for five days beginning from 22^nd October till the 26^th. The highlight of the festival is the fire ritual that is held in the evening where crowds gather to witness the ritual together with the naked dance.

The history of the temples at Kurje is associated with Sindhu Raja and Guru Rinpoche. Sindhu Raja invited Guru Rinpoche from Nepal to Bhutan. Upon invitation, Guru Rinpoche visited Bumthang and meditated in a cave that resembled a pile of vajras (dorjis). After subduing the evil spirits and demons, imprints of the Guru Rinpoche’s body remained. Thereafter, the name came to be known as Kurje meaning-imprint of the body. The present place of the Lhakhang remains as a blessed and historical site.

There are three main temples at Kurje. The oldest temple was constructed by the Minjur Tenpa in 1652 on the site where Guru Rinpoche meditated when he was serving as the first Trongsa Penlop (Governor of Trongsa).

The second temple was founded by Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuck in 1900 while serving as the 13^th Trongsa Penlop.  This temple is the most sacred as it was built in the place where Guru Rinpoche left his body imprint.

The third temple was built in the 1990s. It was sponsored by the Queen Mother Ashi Kezang Choden Wangchuck. It houses the images of Guru Rinpoche, King Thrisong Detsen and Pandit Santarakshita and the Sixteen arhats or the Siddhis.

In front of the temples are Chortens dedicated to the first three kings of Bhutan.

Kurje festival is an important festival for local people of Bumthang and also for the rest of the Bhutanese. Many tourists and Bhutanese come together to witness the colorful festival for blessing and appreciation of the different mask dances. One will not only get the blessings by witnessing the age old mask dances and traditional Bhutanese dances but also enjoy this unique culture while also enjoying the beauty of Bhutan’s spritual district.

Their attire is also unique all woven out of Yak hair and sheep wool.  Their culture is also different where a single woman can marry more than one husband. In fact it is a common norm amongst the Brokpa women to marry all the brothers in a family. They are also fun loving and enjoy merry making with lots of festivities. Indeed, they love music and dance and attending tshechus.

The Merak tshechu that is organized annually for three days at the Merak Lhakhang situated just next to the village provides the Brokpas with the much needed respite from their daily cattle herding routine. Beside the dances that are performed throughout the Dzongs and Lhakhangs, the Brokpas also feature their unique dances known as Ache Lhamo and the Yak dance. Both these dances are exclusive to the Brokpas and have drawn a lot of visitors to witness them.

Almost every village in Lhuenste boasts of festivals that are unique to other communities in Bhutan. Some notable festivals are the Cha and the Ha festivals that are celebrated to honor the deities and avert misfortunes. However, the important festival where people congregate in large numbers is the annual three day festival. The festival is normally celebrated in the month of November and besides the tshechus and the masked dances, one can also receive blessings from some of the important relics that is publicly displayed. The other aspect of the tshechu is the colourful attire of Kushithara that Lhuentse is famous for. One can come across various patterns of Kira and rich ornaments that are displayed.

The new Dzong in Mongar was built at the initiative of the third King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck in 1953. Today the dzong is the centre of administration where all important decisions are taken.

The highlight of the dzong is the annual three day tshechu that is held in the month of November. It is witnessed by people from as far as Trashigang and Lhuentse.

Today the National Museum has in its possession over 3,000 works of Bhutanese art, covering more than 1,500 years of Bhutan’s cultural heritage. Its rich holdings of various creative traditions and disciplines, represent a remarkable blend of the past with the present and is a major attraction for local and foreign visitors.