Bhutan Archive with Keystone

I am happy to share that my pictures from Bhutan are now available through Keystone in Switzerland. An amazing place, hopefully a Workshop will be organised again in the not to distant future!

In Thimphu, Bhutan, Choki Traditional Art School educates young men and women on the traditional Buddhist arts. Everything from wood crafts to painting and embroidery is all taught here. The students will later work on preserving the history as well as the traditions of the art that evolvs around the monasteries as well as the different festivals that takes place in Bhutan. An example is the "Tigers Nest". A few years ago, it got severely damaged and the students from  Choki Traditional Art School is heavily involved in recreating the works of art at he monastery.

Traditional wood craft at a workshop near Paro, Bhutan.

Tango Monastery, Bhutan

Traditional wood craft is important in order to preserve the historic sites in Bhutan.

Tango Monastery, a Buddhist University, Bhutan.

A young Monk plays badminton at the Dechen Phodrang Monastery in Thimphu, Bhutan.

Young Monks at the Dechen Phodrang Monastery in Thimphu, Bhutan.

Young Monks at the Dechen Phodrang Monastery in Thimphu, Bhutan.

"Highway 1" is being worked on constantly. The distance between Paro and Thimphu is about 50km but can take more the 4 hours to drive.  It gets difficult when you meet larger vehicles on what is essentially a one lane dirt road. The road is better closer to the cities.

Children playing near the Chimi Lhakhang Monastery. The children are also revealing bad teeth.

In Bhutan, Archery is the national sport. One can see the sport being competed in a number of different venues. I will come back to that later, but Khuru is also popular! Khuru is a "dart like" sport where the guys competing tries to hit the target around 20 to 40 meters away. Their precision and courage is impressive. The "dart" is pretty big, the target pretty small and the guys standing near the target seems to be worryingly close while the competition is throwing the dart.

Men playing Khuru in Punakha, Bhutan. Khuru is a traditional Bhutanese sport. It involves throwing darts outdoors with a target approximately 20 metres.

Nuns are praying at the The Sangchhen Dorji Lhuendrup Nunnery in Punakha, Bhutan.

Spectators at the Changlimithang Archery Field in Thimphu, Bhutan. Archery is a national sport in Bhutan. 

Walking to The Tigers Nest Monastery (Paro Taktsang or Taktsang monastery) takes about 2-3 hours. Making the walk in the morning imporoves the chance to see the spectacular views. The monastery is located near Paro and is only accessible by foot. It hangs on a precipitous cliff at 3,120 metres (10,240 ft) above sea level and  about 900 metres (3,000 ft) above the Paro Valley. 

Walking to The Tigers Nest Monastery (Paro Taktsang or Taktsang monastery) takes about 2-3 hours. Making the walk in the morning imporoves the chance to see the spectacular views. The monastery is located near Paro and is only accessible by foot. It hangs on a precipitous cliff at 3,120 metres (10,240 ft) above sea level and  about 900 metres (3,000 ft) above the Paro Valley.

Paro Dzong, otherwise named Rinpung dzong. Monks talking together outside the Paro Dzong.

The Changangkha monastery is located in Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. This is the temple where parents come to in order to name their children- they pick a name from the available names at the temple. It is thought that this process as well as the blessings from the local Llama is bringing good luck to the child. Apart from the Royal family, there are no family names given in Bhutan.

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