Bhutan - Lindsay Brown [40]
The development of a modern, nonreligious literary culture is still emerging in Bhutan. In recent years local presses have published a range of popular religious works, notably the biographies of delog. These biographies retell the experiences of women who have ‘died’ and visited the various hell and pure realms described in Buddhist teachings. These women then ‘return’ to life and encouraged people to lead good lives and follow the teachings of Buddha. Other contemporary works published in Dzongkha are on Bhutanese history, notably the work by Lopon Pemala, Druk Karpo (White Dragon) and an excellent biography of the Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. The Centre for Bhutan Studies, established in 2000, publishes a range of academic studies on Bhutan in both English and Dzongkha.
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Delog: Journey to realms beyond Death by Delog Dawa Drolma is a good example of these biographies. Les Revenants de l’Au-de-là dans le Monde Fibétain, by Françoise Pommaret, is an excellent academic study of the delog.
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Contemporary Bhutanese writers, usually writing in English, such as Kunzang Choeden, have produced short stories and collections of folktales from throughout Bhutan. Kunzang Choeden’s book Bhutanese Tales of the Yeti has an excellent selection of local stories about the migoi, or yeti. She recently published The Circle of Karma. Sonam Kinga has written a few short plays in Dzongkha and translated the Songs of Sorrow by Gyalong Sumdar Tashi. Karma Ura published two excellent books in the 1990s. The first is a translation of the popular Dzongkha loze (ballad), The Ballad of Pema Tshewang. It tells the tale of Tshewang Tashi, a chamberlain to the governor of Wangdue Phodrang, who is chosen to lead a campaign against the governor of Trongsa. He does so with a sense of deep foreboding and dies after being surrounded by enemy forces. Ura’s version contains wonderful illustrations of key scenes. The more recent work, The Hero of a Thousand Eyes, is a biography of Dasho Shingkarlam from Bumthang. It is simultaneously an engrossing personal tale and an insight into Bhutanese life prior to the reforms of the third king. HM Ashi Dorji Wangmo has written a fascinating biography of her father and his family, Of Rainbows and Clouds. In 2006 she published Treasures of the Thunder Dragon, a personal view of Bhutan and reflection on the changes during Her Majesty’s lifetime.
Rinzin Rinzin, a young Bhutanese writer from Lhuentse, has published The Talisman of Good Fortune and Other Stories from Rural Bhutan, a collection of nine short stories that give the reader a sense of rural life. There is an interesting mix of stories and poems by Tshering C Dorji in Shadow around the Lamp.
Cinema
Film-making is relatively new to Bhutan. The first feature film produced by a Bhutanese film-maker for a non-Bhutanese audience was The Cup by Khyentse Norbu, which was nominated as best foreign-language film for the 2000 Academy Awards. Travellers and Magicians (2003), also produced by Khyentse Norbu, is the first Dzongkha-language film to be made for an international audience. The film contains two parallel tales and its main theme is very pertinent to contemporary Bhutan. The main story focuses on a young frustrated civil servant, Dhundup, who dreams of leaving Bhutan for the United States. He likes rock’n’roll and western clothes. Yet on the road to the capital, he encounters a series of people who suggest that contentment can be found among his own people.
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The world’s largest book, entitled Bhutan: a Visual Odyssey Across the Last Himalayan Kingdom, weighs 59kg
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Bhutanese of all ages enjoy these films, and part of the enjoyment for many is identifying friends and relatives, as well as the locations. Bhutanese films such as Khorwa, made for a Bhutanese audience, often tackle contemporary social problems such as domestic violence,