Bhutanese Culture

Bhutanese language and literature, the areas and crafts, ceremonies and events, and basic social and cultural values draw their essence from religious teachings. The tradition of fine art is alive today, manifested ,for example, in products like the legendary thangkas. The exquisite traditional painting is also visible in monasteries and houses, skillfully enhancing the architecture. Traditional shapes, colors and patterns on the walls, doors, windows , pave Bhutanese architecture in a class of its own music, dance and handicrafts, both by clergy and the lay population, play an important role in national, village, or domestic functions and festivals. Bhutan’s textile tradition has, in recent years, gone international.

The national language of Bhutan is Dzongkha. The people also speak more than 18 dialects across the country. Today, English is taught in the schools and is used as the official working language, but the national leaders emphasizes the development and the use of Dzongkha.

                                                          Bhutanese People

Bhutan's population is, in many ways, one large family. More than 90 percent of the people live on subsistence farming, scatters in sparsely populated villages across the rugged terrain of the Himalayas with rice as the staple diet in the lower regions, and wheat, buckwheat, and maize in the other valleys, the furrow terraces but into the steep hill slopes. Bhutanese communities settle in the valleys with limited communication in the past. It is for this reason that the sense of individuality and independence emerges as a strong characteristics of the people. It is for the same reason that, despite the small population, it has developed a number of languages and dialects. The Bhutanese are, by nature, physically strong and fiercely independent with an open and ready sense of humour. Hospitality is an in-built social value in Bhutan.