Boutan is a small mountainous country. The capital is Thimphu. Many tourists wonder: where is the country of Bhutan? The answer is simple - in Asia, between two great powers: India and China. It is located on the southern slope of the Himalayas. The Black Mountains stretch right in the center of Bhutan. In Bhutan, the airport is the only flat place in the state.
The delightful and mysterious landlocked country of Bhutan. It is located on the eastern slopes of the Himalayas. Because of this, the country's terrain is mountainous and densely forested.
The head of state with a limited monarchy form of government is the king. The second administrator of the state after the king is the Supreme Lama. The Council of Ministers, as well as the Royal Advisory Council, play the role of executive power. The National Assembly, consisting of one chamber, represents the legislative body.
Bhutan's history goes back thousands of years. Previously, the surrounding countries did not know about the existence of this state. The culture originated here in 747 thanks to Rinpoche, a spiritual teacher who arrived from Pakistan. He spread Buddhism among the inhabitants. In 1616, all the disparate parts of Bhutan were united thanks to Shabdrung Ngawang Namguelu, who came from Tibet. This is the most significant event in the history of the state. In the 17th century, Bhutan was attacked twice by the Mongols. However, thanks to Shabdrung, the attacks were repelled. After his death, Bhutan fell into turmoil. It ended in 1907, when the first king came to power. Since then, power has been inherited. The country ceased to be closed from the outside world and allowed tourist visits in 1974.
The people of this mesmerizing kingdom are no less beautiful than Bhutan itself. They are responsive and hospitable. They are peace-loving and not spoiled by poverty and the vices of the modern world. Bhutanese people love to have fun. Local view archery became a sport. Fields for athletes have been built throughout the country. When a player hits the target, his cheerful support team runs out to him and sings a song of praise.
All Bhutanese people wear national costumes. The King and Queen of Bhutan are very concerned about maintaining traditions. If a resident does not put on a traditional costume, then he will not get an appointment at some authority that he really needs. If it were not for the care of the monarch, many residents could have long since become an alcoholic and suffered from smoking. It was the king who banned smoking throughout the country.
Bhutan - the land of happiness
Since absolutely all religions are prohibited in the country, except Buddhism, the king considers it his duty to make every citizen of the country happy. For this purpose, the “Commission for General People’s Happiness” was created in 2008. During the census, citizens are asked: are you happy? The majority of respondents systematically answer positively.
Bhutan has a Ministry of Happiness. Happiness is at the forefront of national policy. The concept of GDP is replaced here by the concept of “gross national happiness”.
Bhutan is a truly happy and bright country. She is open to others.
Dzongkha is officially considered the official language. It, like Bumtang, a language used in the peripheral regions and in the east of the country, has no written norms. The Tibetan language has been used for these purposes since ancient times. Over the past few years, schools have been studying English language, which is gaining momentum in its distribution in the country of Bhutan. An interesting fact is that the road signs here are drawn by hand! They are often signed, also by hand.
Bhutan is an environmentally friendly country
Interestingly, at every step there are urns with the inscriptions “don’t forget about me” and “use me.” In this way, the authorities are fighting for cleanliness in the state.
It is prohibited in the state to kill animals and cut down forests. Trees, on the contrary, are constantly being planted. It is also prohibited to import chemical fertilizers into Bhutan, so all plants growing here are environmentally friendly.
Thanks to these bans, most of the country is nature reserves untouched by human hands.
There is practically no production in Bhutan. Everything is imported from India. It is thanks to this that the state does not pollute the environment.
Interestingly, television is banned throughout the country. Few residents have televisions and use them to watch videos.
Signs of various establishments do not differ in variety and creativity. They are all the same, regardless of the type of activity: wooden rectangular signs with blue stickers and white inscriptions.
Bhutan - the land of gingerbread houses
In the mid-seventies, the king ordered that all houses be painted. That’s why Bhutan is often called the country of gingerbread houses. The motifs mainly consist of ornaments. The addition includes images of animals and plants. Residents of Bhutan compete with each other to decorate their homes.
By tradition, all houses consist of three floors. On the first there is a stable, on the second there is a bedroom, chapel and kitchen, and on the third there is a place for drying hay.
The symbol of this mountainous state is a large beautiful butterfly called the Glory of Bhutan. Its wingspan is 12 cm.
Bhutan – the land of rice, tea and pepper
The staple of Bhutanese cuisine is rice. It is used everywhere and always. The majority of the population are vegetarians. The use of beans and chili peppers is common. After spicy feasts, residents of this mountainous country prefer to drink tea with butter and salt called souza. They drink both black and green tea.
If you are going to Bhutan, this will definitely not leave you indifferent. Here you will find yourself outside of time and space. Happiness and silence reign here. There's no fuss. In the forests on the slopes of the Himalayas a large number of Buddhist monasteries.
The time difference with Moscow is three hours. There are no direct flights from Russia to Bhutan. You can get to the kingdom with a transfer in Delhi, Singapore, Mumbai and Kathmandu.
In most cases, tourists travel around Bhutan on transfers pre-booked by tour operators. Locals use buses to travel. You can often find Bhutanese voting. Despite the difficult terrain, the roads here are in excellent condition.
The official currency is BTN. In the central region of the country any world currency and checks from any companies. In peripheral areas exchange foreign currency almost impossible.
Tipping is not accepted in the country. Despite this, hotel workers and tour guides will be immensely grateful for even the smallest rewards from tourists.
The Bhutanese do not know how to bargain, and they do not want to. Prices are fixed everywhere.
Special attention should be paid to altitude sickness, which manifests itself when a tourist rises above 2500 meters.
To visit Bhutan you will need a visa. To do this, you need to fill out a declaration, which must indicate all imported photo, video and electronic equipment. If any of the imported items remain in the country as a gift or goods for sale, the tourist will be required to pay customs duty on these items. The export of local currency outside of Bhutan is prohibited. The tourist must declare the imported currency.
The Kingdom of Bhutan is one of the most mysterious countries on our planet. This state is located between India and China, on the southern slope of the Great Himalayan Range, which rises to an altitude of 7000 meters above sea level.
Depending on the altitude, Bhutan has different climatic zones, from highlands to subtropical jungles.
The Bhutanese themselves call their country Druk Yul or Druk Tsenden, which translated means “the country of the thunder dragon.”
For many centuries, the country was reliably isolated by the Himalayas from the outside world, which allowed a unique, authentic culture to be preserved here. Tantric Buddhism is declared the official religion and “spiritual heritage” of Bhutan.
Ministry of Happiness
The Government of Bhutan, considering it absurd to rely on such financial indicators as Gross National Product(GDP) created the Ministry of Happiness.
The government of this country established the state “Commission for General National Happiness” (Gross National Happiness Commission) headed by the Prime Minister.
The government declared the main goal to be the pursuit of happiness for each of its citizens. This is even enshrined in Article 9 of the Bhutanese Constitution. When determining the development strategy of the state, the leadership of this country relies on such an indicator as the “Index of National Happiness” - Gross National Happiness.
The Ministry of Happiness has held several international conferences to which many Western economists have been invited (including Nobel laureates in Economics), with the aim of developing methods for calculating the Index of National Happiness, based on a combination economic situation in the country and the life satisfaction of the population. The smile of the population is one of the indicators in the developed formulas.
Are you happy?
The question “Are you happy?” asked during population censuses. During last census In 2005, 45.2% of the population answered this question “very happy”, 51.6% “happy”, and only 3.3% “not very happy”.
What else is characteristic of a country that considers the happiness of the population to be a category of economic development?
Respect for traditions
The most noticeable difference is that Bhutan carefully protects its centuries-old cultural traditions. Sometimes it’s funny, for example, one of the laws requires Bhutanese to wear national clothes.
Tourism and mountaineering are limited in the country. Expensive, non-extendable visas: 2 weeks - $100. Any movement around the country outside the capital, only in organized groups, with an official guide.
Until the end of the 20th century, television was banned in the country; in 1999, Bhutan became the last country on the planet to begin television broadcasting - when the only state television channel began operating.
There is virtually no corruption in Bhutan. In the 2006 Transparency International ranking, Bhutan ranks 32nd in the world for corruption, behind only Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau and the UAE in Asia.
Lawyers are outlawed here! According to the king’s decree: “Do not allow people into the courtroom who are capable of making black white and white black.”
The King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk, is the youngest monarch in the world, (born 1980) very popular in his country and abroad. All over Asia, and not only in it, there are clubs for fans of the young monarch, from India to Indonesia, brochures and posters dedicated to him are sold everywhere, and several societies of girls in love with him operate on the Internet. The royal wedding raised Bhutan's happiness index by several points.
His Majesty is fighting for the health of his subjects - Bhutan has become the only country in the world where smoking is prohibited throughout its territory.
The government is actively concerned about the environment (half of Bhutan's territory has been declared national parks, in which, for example, hunting is prohibited), for this reason, industrial development is not included in the plans of the Bhutanese authorities.
Bhutan is an agricultural country. For more than 80% of the population, agriculture and forestry are the main source of income. The main export products are organic rice, fruits and electricity generated by hydroelectric power plants.
The country is still very little studied, and vast territories in the south and central part are completely undeveloped by people and are huge reserves with amazing animals and flora. Bhutan has preserved all this for very simple reasons - hunting is prohibited and deforestation is practically not carried out. The kingdom is fully self-sufficient in food and clothing. At the same time, almost the entire population wears national clothes - kho.
Life of people
People live in large and beautiful two- or three-story houses scattered along the mountain slopes along small valleys. There are not many cities, but the largest is Thimphu, which is also the residence of the king and the capital and has about 40 thousand people.
There are about 200 dzong monasteries on the territory of the kingdom, some of which were built back in the 7th century. King of Tibet Songsten Gampo. For several centuries they served as a refuge from Tibetan invaders and wild animals. Over time, settlements arose around the dzongs.
This is a truly amazing country without hunger and crime, where people live in joy, without knowing wars and poverty. The Bhutanese themselves, of whom, unlike other countries in the region, are quite small, are open, hospitable, and not at all spoiled modern world and carefully preserve their unique culture.
It is forbidden to kill animals here, and therefore almost everyone is vegetarian. The import of chemical fertilizers is prohibited here, and everything that grows on this land is itself environmentally friendly. More interesting feature This state can be considered to mean that forests in Bhutan are not cut down, but rather planted. It is not enough to say that this is a country of Buddhism, it is a country of purity and enlightenment.
Although early history Bhutan is still poorly studied; scientists, conducting archaeological excavations and examining stone tools, came to the conclusion that a civilization existed on the territory of modern Bhutan back in 2000 BC. Although there is almost no written evidence of ancient times. The history of the country is known mainly in episodes, due to the fact that in 1827 the largest library in the then capital of Bhutan, Punakha, burned down. Historical events are now inseparable from legends.
History milestones:
III century BC e. - The Thepu tribes lived on the territory of Bhutan.
9th century - the beginning of the settlement of the country by Tibetan tribes.
XVI century - emergence of an independent Bhutanese state.
XIX century - establishment of British control over the country.
1949 - the country gained independence.
Source: veda-journal.ru
Butane - the only country in a world where there is Ministry of Happiness, and Tantric Buddhism was proclaimed the official religion. According to a population survey, only 3% of residents are not very happy, all the rest are quite satisfied with their lives. As the example of this country shows, poverty does not always mean unhappiness, and the presence of modern goods is not the only path to prosperity.
Bhutan's population is small - about 700 thousand people. The country is located in the Himalayas; according to one version, the toponym Bhutan sounds like “high mountains” in Sanskrit. Geographically, Bhutan is located between India and China.
For many years, Bhutan was an absolutely closed country, and only in 1971, after joining the UN, did the first foreign journalists come here. Tourism gradually began to develop; to this day, everyone entering the country pays a fairly high fee, and these fees constitute a significant part of government revenue.
Television and the Internet appeared in Bhutan only in 2002, the Internet even later. The external isolation of the country has had a beneficial effect on the preservation of national traditions. Thus, in Bhutan equality is observed and in some areas women have even greater rights than men. For example, the right to land always remains with the mother of the clan. The main occupation in Bhutan is farming; both men and women work in the agricultural sector. Families also do housework together.
Religion occupies a special place in the life of the Bhutanese; many boys from the age of six study in monasteries; the harshest conditions are for those who go to monasteries located high in the mountains. There, away from the bustle of the world, young men devote themselves to spiritual practices. From time to time, each monk goes into hermitage, the period of solitude is a multiple of three - three days, weeks, months or even a year. Both men and women can join monasteries, but the number of nuns is much smaller.
The “Europeanization” of Bhutan began to take place gradually after Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk became king. He was educated at Oxford and has progressive views on the path of development the country should take.
Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko, like the one that already exists in the United Arab Emirates(UAE). There, this department carries out measures aimed at making citizens more satisfied with their lives. In particular, the ministry specializes in creating new social benefits, recreation parks, etc. Citizens of the state also participate in resolving some issues - for example, they put forward their proposals for measures that will contribute to the growth of their happiness.
“They created the Ministry of Happiness. It seems to me that such a ministry would be very useful for Russia,” says Matvienko.
Which country still has a Ministry of Happiness?
In addition to the UAE, the Ministry of Happiness is also located in Bhutan. The fact is that tantric Buddhism is proclaimed the official religion there, or “spiritual heritage”. Therefore, its main goal The government declares the desire “for the happiness of each of its citizens,” this is enshrined in Article 9 of the Constitution.
The government takes this goal seriously and regularly measures the happiness of its citizens. So, the question “Are you happy?” asked during population censuses. In the last census in 2005, 45.2% of the population answered this question “very happy”, 51.6% “happy”, and only 3.3% “not very happy”.
In turn, these indicators directly affect the key element of building an economy, the indicator that replaced the generally accepted concept of gross domestic product (GDP) - “gross national happiness” (GNN). It is noteworthy that several international conferences were held in Bhutan, to which Western economists were invited (including Nobel laureates in economics), with the aim of developing methods for calculating GNH based on a combination of the economic situation in the country and the life satisfaction of the population.
Tantric Buddhism— Buddhism, in which tantra plays a key role. Tantra (translated from Sanskrit as “connection, thread, sequence”) is the practice of enlightened states, death and intermediate states between death and the next birth. The practice of tantra is understood as a means to achieve the final result - Buddhahood (“nirvana”).
Bhutan is the only state in the world whose official religion, “spiritual heritage,” is declared to be Tantric Buddhism.
Therefore, the government declares that its main goal is the desire for the happiness of each of its citizens; this is enshrined in Article 9 of the Constitution. On August 24, 2008, the state “Gross National Happiness Commission” was created, headed by the Prime Minister. 22
The question “Are you happy?” asked during population censuses. In the last census in 2005, 45.2% of the population answered this question “very happy”, 51.6% “happy”, and only 3.3% “not very happy”.
Interestingly, the generally accepted concept of gross domestic product has been replaced in Bhutan by a more relevant indicator - “gross national happiness”. This is the only state in the world in which there is a Ministry of Happiness, thus placing happiness at the forefront of national policy.
This is a truly amazing country without hunger and crime, where people live in joy, without knowing wars and poverty. The Bhutanese themselves, of whom, unlike other countries in the region, are quite small, are open, hospitable, completely uncorrupted by the modern world and carefully preserve their unique culture.
It is forbidden to kill animals here, and therefore almost everyone is vegetarian. The import of chemical fertilizers is prohibited here, and everything that grows on this land is itself environmentally friendly.
Another interesting feature of this state is that forests in Bhutan are not cut down, but rather planted. It is not enough to say that this is a country of Buddhism, it is a country of purity and enlightenment.
The country is still very little studied, and vast territories in the south and central part are completely undeveloped by people and represent huge reserves with amazing flora and fauna.
Bhutan has preserved all this for very simple reasons - hunting is prohibited and deforestation is practically not carried out. The kingdom is fully self-sufficient in food and clothing. At the same time, almost the entire population wears national clothes - kho.
Popular and Oxford-educated, the king now seeks to strengthen ties with other countries while preserving Bhutan's independence and culture as much as possible. This publication contains photographs of people and local attractions throughout the Kingdom of Bhutan.
Buddhist monastery Paro Takstang, also known as the Tiger's Lair. The first temple was built on this rock in 1692.
On the right in the photo: Paro Dzong (Paro Fortress).
The Himalayan mountain Jomolhari, which is considered sacred.
During a dance rehearsal in honor of a wedding celebration in the capital of Bhutan - Thimphu.
Bhutanese shopkeepers prepare a large banner depicting King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk and now Queen Jetsun Pema.
Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk kisses his queen Jetsun Pema in front of thousands of residents at a wedding ceremony at Changlimithang Stadium in Bhutan's capital Thimphu.
King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk holds a small child as he greets local residents with Queen Jetsun Pema.
Locals run through a huge flaming gate made of dry grass during the Mewang, a fire blessing ceremony, during the Jambay Lakhang Drup festival.
Locals believe that walking through the flaming gate in this ceremony will cleanse them of their sins for a year.
Five decades ago, Bhutan was a feudal, medieval place with no roads, proper schools or hospitals, and little contact with outside world. Today, education and healthcare are free, and average duration life increased from 40 to 66 years.