Dramchoe: Each province in Bhutan holds two major religious festivals a year: the dramchoe, a purification ceremony, and the tsechu, celebrating the arrival of Buddhism in Bhutan by Guru Rinpoche. These festivals last three days each and are celebrated at different times throughout the year in each of the provinces. Peep and I happened to be in Thimpu while the dramchoe festival was being celebrated. The dramchoe is the more religious of the two festivals and the tsechu is more varied and flamboyant. The tsechu was to be held shortly after our departure from Bhutan.
Thursday was the second day of the dramchoe, considered the most holy, and Peep and I put on traditional dress, me in a Gho and Peep in a Kira, to attend the festival with our hosts and several other guests of theirs. Once in the dzong where the ceremony was to take place, all women are required to place a red scarf, folded over, on their left shoulder. Men are required to drape a long scarf around their body and over their left shoulder. Being a commoner, I wore a white scarf, while uncle, as a minister, wore orange. Yellow is reserved for only the king and head abbot.
The 2-1/2 hour dance we observed is the culmination of 14 days of dances performed by the monks used to subjugate the evil spirits in a dough effigy. The dancers wear scary masks to frighten the evil spirits. The evil spirits are not killed, for killing of any living being is not permitted in Buddhism, but allowed to emerge in a better state, for everything has good in it.
Simply by being present at this ceremony, it is believed that one’s soul is purified. Being with the minister, Peep and I got special seating from which to view the ceremony.
Archery: That afternoon, Peep and I changed back into our regular clothes and went down by the river to observe an archery match. Archery is the national sport of Bhutan and, fortunately for us, one of two yearly matches with traditional bows was being held during our stay in Bhutan. Apart from these two matches, there are also three matches using modern, or compound, bows.
The contestants shoot at targets placed 180 yards apart and score points by hitting the target or coming within an arrow’s length distance from the target. Team members stand near the target, encouraging their teammates to hit a bull’s-eye. Of course, they have to be careful to move out of the way of the arrows speeding toward them. When the target is hit, a song is sung and a dance is performed celebrating the marksmanship of the shooter.