Dochula is not a city, but a mountain pass in Thimphu district, en route to Punakha from Thimphu, about 25 km from Thimphu city. It includes a monastery and a complex of 108 stupas built by Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk, the wife of Jigme Singye Wangchuk, the former Druk Gyalpo. The monastery was built in 2008 to commemorate 100 years of monarchy in Bhutan.
It was at this place that I experienced the minimum temperature. While I did not measure it, I suppose it was below 5o C. I also heard from local people that it snows here in the early morning as temperatures drop below zero.
Fog on the way to DochulaThe main monastery, DochulaThe 108 stupas, Dochula
Thimphu is the capital and largest city in Bhutan. It is said to be the world’s only capital city without a traffic signal. The city is located in a valley. The following article covers the places we covered during our visit.
The Buddha Dordenma statue, built on a hill overlooking the city of Thimphu, was completed in 2015. The statue is built in bronze and is glided with gold. Since the construction of the surrounding area has not completed fully, currently there are no entry fees for the site. The Kuenselphodrang National Park is located adjacent to this statue.
The Buddha Dordenma statue (PC: Tushar Kamble)
The Changangkha Lhakhang is a monastery located in the Western part of Thimphu. Just like a typical monastery, it is located atop a small hill, and is beautifully adorned by a number of prayer wheels, each inscribed with a Buddhist prayer chant ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’. There is a larger prayer wheel inside the main building, attached to a prayer bell. The bell rings when the wheel is turned. Visitors are required to take off their footwear before entering this main building, which houses the statue of Lord Buddha. The temple is perfumed with agarbatthis, several butter lamps are used before the main idol, prasad is offered to the deity as chocolates, biscuits, etc. and water (teertha) is offered to devotees who seek blessings from the Lord, much like any Hindu temple.
Buddhist prayer wheels at the Changangkha LhakhangThe Buddhist chant (PC: Tushar Kamble)
The takin is the national animal of Bhutan and a few of these are located in a zoo-like preserve, known as the Takin preserve at Thimphu. It also houses a few other animals. Do not buy any handicrafts at this reserve as they are priced higher than those selling it at Thimphu’s main market.
The takin at the Takin Reserve
The seat of the Royal Government of Bhutan is the Taschicho Dzong, also known as the Thimphu Dzong. Visitors are not permitted inside; it can only be seen from a viewpoint, i.e. from a nearby hill. The residence of the royal family is the Dechencholing palace, outside of the main city of Thimphu.
The Taschicho Dzong (PC: Tushar Kamble)
Thimphu’s main market is located in downtown Thimphu, near the Taj Tashi Hotel. The SAARC Development Fund building is also located in the same area, Samten Lam. All kinds of handicrafts, such as purses, bags, wallets, embroidered flags, printed flags, fridge magnets, dishes, etc. are available here. It is recommended to purchase all such handicrafts here itself, as they are charged extravagantly high at Paro, for Westeners who directly fly to Paro airport.
The SAARC Development Fund and Bhutan Development Bank, downtown ThimphuI got this purse for Nu/INR 300 in one of the handicraft shops. It is embroidered and made up of silk.The handicraft market (PC: Tushar Kamble)
The National Memorial Chorten (stupa) is another Buddhist temple in Thimphu, built to honour the former Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, in 1974. Jigme Dorji is known to have modernized Bhutan and opened it to the outside world. This was the only monument in Thimphu where we did not venture inside, as we didn’t find it worthy of the imposed entry fees.
The National Memorial Chhorten
Archery is Bhutan’s national sport. It is also easy to find villagers playing archery or darts near the roadside. The national tournaments for archery and football are conducted at the Changlimithang Stadium at Thimphu. It serves as a home ground for the Bhutanese football team. I had a great honour to step on the ground of any stadium for the first time, since Indian stadiums do not allow you to do so. The stadium is also famously known for hosting a FIFA sanctioned match between Bhutan and Montserrat, the then two least ranked teams at FIFA. The match coincided with the final of the 2002 World Cup and was hence known as the ‘Other Final’. Bhutan won the game 4-0 and rose from the bottom two rankings keeping Montserrat at the last place.
The headquarters of the Royal Bhutanese Army is located near the helipad, in the same area as our hotel – Dechen. The army was formed by the support from India in 1950s in response to the Chinese invasion of Tibet and is trained by the Indian army as well. Bhutan does not have its own air force and neither a navy since it is a landlocked state.
Headquarters of the Royal Bhutan ArmyChanglimithang Stadium, Thimphu (PC: Tushar Kamble)
Thimphu’s main arterial road is the Babesa – Thimpu Expressway. The city’s council operates bus services on this route and major bus stops are provided with the map of the route and an indicator for expected waiting time for the next bus. BEST must learn something from them!
Bus route map
Few other heritage buildings deserving honourable mentions are shown below:
General Post Office, Thimphu
Nehru-Wangchuck Cultural Centre (PC: Tushar Kamble)
A statue of Jawaharlal Nehru inside the centre
After spending two nights in Thimphu, we headed towards Punakha via Dochu La, which has been described in the further pages.
Although the nation was established in the early 20th century, most Westerners would fail to locate it on a world map, until the 1990s when Bhutan opened up itself to the outside world. The following article gives a brief introduction about the country, especially for those who are quite unfamiliar about it. Do not worry, this is not the entire Wikipedia article! I have picked up only concise points which would be helpful for understanding the rest of my blog. The sheer uniqueness of Bhutan cannot be explained by simply expanding the length of this article.
Foreign Relations
Bhutan is a tiny Buddhist kingdom located in the eastern part of the Himalayas and is landlocked by India, the world’s largest democracy and China, the world’s largest single-party ruled state. Although being a sovereign nation, its close relations with India is enough to call it as her ‘protected state’. This extremely close relationship with India has directly descended from its relationship with the British Raj, and the Indo-Bhutanese Friendship Treaty of 1949. Bhutan, however maintains diplomatic relations with 52 states, including India and the European Union, but none of the permanent members of the UNSC. Bhutan became a member of the United Nations in 1971, sponsored by India. It should also be noted that the first country to recognise an independent Bangladesh was Bhutan, and not India. Since then, Bhutan has also maintained a special relationship with Bangladesh although it does not directly border it.
Bhutan maintains diplomatic relations with the countries in green, those in the blue are members of the EU who maintain relations with Bhutan only through the EU (Wikipedia)
Etymology
The precise etymology of “Bhutan” is unknown, although it is likely to derive from the Tibetan endonym “Bod” used for Tibet. Traditionally, it is taken to be a transcription of the Sanskrit ‘Bhoṭa-anta’ meaning the “end of Tibet”. The local name of Bhutan, as it differs in many other countries is ‘Druk Yul’, meaning the land of dragons.
Government
Bhutan is ruled by a Constitutional monarchy headed by the king – Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who ascended to the throne in 2006, after his father, Jigme Singye Namgyel Wangchuck abdicated it in the favour of his eldest son. The royal couple has a son, Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, who was in the headlines when 108000 trees were planted to celebrate his birth. The king of Bhutan is referred to as the ‘Druk Gyalpo’, i.e. the Dragon King. The ‘druk’ (dragon) is the national symbol of Bhutan.
The national emblem of Bhutan (Wikipedia)Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Bhutanese royal family (India Today)
Geography
Geographically, Bhutan lies entirely in the Himalayas, in contrast to Nepal, which also has plain lands or Terai. The extreme south of the country, such as the cities of Phuentsholing and Gelephu, bordering India are perhaps the only areas on plains.
Bhutan is divided into 20 districts, called dzongkhags, analogous to states. Each dzongkhag has an administrative centre with a palace-like ‘Dzong’, which also acts as the religious centre. The dzongkhag is administered by a body called the Dzongkhak Tshokdu, headed by a ‘Dzongda’, appointed by the king of Bhutan himself. The national language of Bhutan is Dzongkha, made up of two words ‘Dzong’ and ‘kha’ (speech), which literally means the speech of the dzong. It is written in the Tibetan script. Though Dzongkha is the national language, English is the primary medium of instruction in schools and most of the urban population can speak it.
Political map of Bhutan (elizon.com)
Environment
The country gives a special importance for environment protection. It has a rich flora and fauna. It currently has net zero greenhouse gas emissions because the small amount of pollution it creates is absorbed by the forests that cover most of the country. While the entire country collectively produces 2.2 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, the immense forest covering 72% of the country acts as a carbon sink, absorbing more than four million tons of carbon dioxide every year. Most of this forest is made up of cypress trees, which is the national tree of Bhutan and also finds its mention in the national anthem ‘Druk Tsendhen’.
The cypress trees of Bhutan: the cypress is a family of coniferous trees
Economy
The Bhutanese government has officially adopted a measure of happiness known as ‘Gross National Happiness’, which is instituted as the goal of the government of Bhutan in the Constitution of Bhutan, enacted on 18 July 2008. This measure is calculated by a survey of the population in all of the dzongkhags. The four pillars of GNH’s are (1) sustainable and equitable socio-economic development; (2) environmental conservation; (3) preservation and promotion of culture; and (4) good governance. Not jokingly, the UN has also urged other nations to follow this Bhutanese model. However, like any other economic measure, it has been met with criticism from economists. A 2004 Economist magazine article states, “The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is not in fact an idyll in a fairy tale. It is home to perhaps 900,000 people most of whom live in grinding poverty.” It should also be noted that although Bhutan has preserved its culture and protected the environment, the nation’s GDP is equally growing at a fast pace.
The GDP of Bhutan, adjusted for purchasing power parity stands at USD 7 billion. The currency of Bhutan is the Bhutanese Ngultrum (pronounced as nul-trum). Each ngultrum is divided into 100 chhertums. It is pegged to the Indian Rupee at a 1:1 ratio, i.e. you get 100 ngultrums for 100 rupees. Indian currency is also equally accepted in Bhutan, with the exception of the new 500 and 2000-rupee notes at some places. The ngultrum notes of the 2006 series feature the Druk Gyalpo Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck on the head and the various monuments and natural scenic attractions of the country on the reverse side. The currency is issued by the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan, the same as what the Reserve Bank stands for India.
Notes of Nu 10 and Nu 5: the reverse of the Nu 5 note shows the Taktsang Monastery at Paro
Religion
The major religion of Bhutan is Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism. Buddhism has three sects – Vajrayana, Hinayana (Theravada) and Mahayana. Buddhist prayer flags are frequently seen across Bhutan. These are cloth flags with shlokas written in Dzongkha. About three quarters of the population perform this religion and Hinduism is the largest minority with about a quarter of the population practising it. These are mostly Nepalis and they live in the east and southeast of Bhutan. Bhutan once came under international scrutiny for ethnic cleansing of the minority Nepalis carried out by the military on the orders of Jigme Singye Namgyal Wangchuck. These minorities fled to Nepal and India and by 1996, over 1 lakh Bhutanese Hindu refugees were living in Eastern Nepal. This is perhaps the only dark side in the history of the House of Wangchuck.
Buddhist prayer flags
Tourism
Indian nationals do not require a visa to enter Bhutan. Same is the case for Bangladeshi and Maldivian nationals. Indian nations also enjoy a freedom of movement, as guaranteed by the 1949 Friendship Treaty. All other foreign nationals need a visa before entering. Their tour must be arranged by a licensed tour operator, and this guided tour covers accommodation, transport, entry fees, etc. at $250 per day of stay and $200 in non-peak season, per person. Furthermore, permits are required for nationals of all countries and vehicles to visit restricted places. There are immigration check-posts at major roads for checking these permits. The tour operator covers these permits for you.
The entry fees for the monuments, such as dzongs and museums is covered in the $250/ $200 tourist package. Other nationals need to pay these fees separately. There are discounts offered for students, which is almost 50% of the actual cost. In addition, the royal palaces at Thimphu cannot be visited by any foreigner.
Visa policy of Bhutan (Wikipedia)
Local time
The Bhutanese Standard Time is GMT+6, i.e. IST+0:30, half an hour ahead of India.
Transport
The only means of transport in Bhutan is through road and air. Most of the roads in the hilly terrain are built by the Border Roads Organisation of India under their project DANTAK.
The Phuentsholing – Thimphu highway
Paro is the only international airport in Bhutan. Airlines operate flights from Paro to Kolkata, Delhi, Bagdogra, Guwahati, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Bangkok, etc. The other domestic airports in Bhutan are Jakar (Bumthang), Gelephu and Trashigang. A detailed description of Paro International Airport will be found in the ‘Paro’ subsection of this blog.
A Drukair aircraft
Bhutan currently has no rail network. However, in December 2009 the king of Bhutan approved the final plan to build an 11-mile-long (18 km), 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) Indian broad-gauge rail link between Hashimara in West Bengal and Phuentsholing in Bhutan. It will be operated and owned by the Indian Railways and I can’t wait for this to happen! As of now, Hashimara is the nearest railway station from Phuentsholing.
TV and media
I could see a majority of Indian channels on Bhutanese television. The exceptions were the channels that I actually wanted to see, such as Zee WION and SAB TV. Please do not expect regional channels to be broadcasted there. Bhutan’s own TV channels are also broadcasted. The ones I saw were managed by BBS (Bhutan Broadcasting Service), a state-owned company. It also has its own website and Twitter account.
Rigney College closure is failure of government’s three-college pledge in the east, says Oppositionhttps://t.co/5nRRMjkjuQ
Parking on public streets is not free in Bhutan. No matter how much time you park your vehicle, you are charged Nu 10 or Nu 20. A parking officer keeps a close eye on every vehicle being parked.
This article covers the general introduction to Bhutan which serves as a reference for my further writing describing our actual trip.
vishalkhopkar 