A Bhutanese Festival

There are over 160 festivals throughout the country and scattered through the year. We attended one in Punakha that was a 5 day celebration held in the Punakha Dzong (fortress) -

This was built in 1637-38 and is the second oldest and second largest fortress in all of Bhutan -

A festival is both a religious and social event, and most attendees dress in their finest clothes, no matter what their ages -

Our guide arranged for us to wear the national dress, which is a Gho for men and a Kira for women -

We definitely got some double takes as we walked through the grounds, as people expected fellow Bhutanese when they first saw our dress, and then caught sight of our light complexions.

This was the entrance to the Dzong…

(did you see the big black things hanging under the eaves? look closely and you’ll see massive bee hives)

… and this was the packed inner courtyard where the dances were held -

The bright colors everywhere were gorgeous -

There were dancers in traditional dress…

… and in resplendent costumes and masks -

The dancer in the center of the picture above is the Black Deity, who is the “gatekeeper” of Hell. Other costumes portray protector gods…

… or some of the great Buddhist masters -

As you can see in the background of the picture above, people were lined up. This is so they could offer monetary gifts to the monks and receive blessings from Buddha -

I took a number of videos of the dances, but I’ll only subject you to one here (as usual, click on the link at the bottom of the email to be able to watch this in your browser) -

Here, Steve is demonstrating that the gho (a knee length robe tied at the waist with a belt) has “the largest pocket in the world” -

The social aspect of the festival was easily seen as friends visited…

… families gathered…

… and everybody enjoyed the fair-like grounds outside the fortress, including bounce houses!

I got a behind-the-scenes picture, as we took a break from the crowd…

… in a religious courtyard, behind the main one for the festival -

I don’t have a favorite festival photo to close with, so I’ll share the signs of early spring we’re seeing here - a white magnolia tree flanked by cherry trees (growing just at the side of the road outside of town):