Event: Bhutan - Paro

Paro Tsechu

When:	Mar 2009 (annual)
Where:	Paro

The Paro Tsechu is the biggest and most spectacular of the Buddhist festivals faithfully celebrated in Bhutan. People dressed in traditional finery flock to bear witness to their Buddhist faith and receive blessings.

They also watch masked dances and colourful allegorical dramas performed in the atmospheric courtyard of the Paro Dzong (temple-fortress). Bhutan is a deeply religious country and Buddhism was first introduced there in around AD800 by the revered Guru Padmasambhava, "he who was born of a lotus flower", and it is in his honour that the festival is held.

The festival consists of three parts: the "Pre-festival" on the first day, ceremonies inside the Paro Dzong on the second day, and the main festivities on the festival ground on the remaining three days. For the devout, the highlight undoubtedly occurs on the final day when a huge religious picture (thongdrel) is unfurled at dawn. To witness this event is to gain great merit.

Both monks and lay people perform in the festival dances and dramas as an act of meditation, seeking to personify the deity that they portray. Masked and dressed in elaborate costumes of silk brocade, dancers demonstrate the triumph of good over evil and the power of compassion to the haunting sounds of trumpets, cymbals and flutes. Dances are interspersed with folksongs and clowning, while copious amounts of butter tea and potent barley alcohol are consumed.

The dances, masks and costumes of Bhutan's festivals have survived unchanged for over 1000 years. Each dance is said to be an exact re-enactment of visions seen by Bhutan's great Buddhist saints, and thus any changes would be sacrilegious. Today this beautiful and sacred festival remains a wonderful manifestation of a religious faith that is still a crucial part of Bhutanese daily life.