Festivals in Bhutan

Religious festivals or Tsechus are important events and celebrated throughout Bhutan, commemorating the deeds of Buddha or those of the great masters of the years gone by associated with their tradition or another. In addition these are annual festivals celebrated with great fanfare in places around Bhutan based on an auspicious day of the lunar calendar.

The most renown of festivals are the Tsechu(meaning "tenth day") where by one of the days of the festival falls on the tenth day of the lunar calendar which is considered auspicious and the most sacred and important religious mask dances and prayers are performed on thst day. Most commonly such festivals usually last from three to five days. Tsechu is a very colourful event where people dressed in their best clothes and jewellary, eat, socialize, and make merry. More importantly, people go to Tsechus, as it being a religious festival, to gain merits.Locally referred to as 'Guru Rimpoche' or, simply as 'Guru,' this eighth century master, introduced the Nyingma school of Buddhism in Tibet and Bhutan. Each 10th day of the lunar calendar is said to commemorate a special event in his life and some of these are dramatized in the context of a religious festival.

Most dzongs have an annual Tsechu with a series of traditional and colourful dances performed by trained dancers and monks. During such festivals masked dances known as chams are performed to bless the onlookers, to spread the Buddhist dharma, to protect them from misfortune and to exorcise all evils. These masked dancers who take on the aspects of wrathful and compassionate deities, heroes, demons and animals represents the symbol of protection.

It is believed that merit is gained by attending such religious festivals. Onlookers rarely fail to notice the Atsaras or clowns who move through the crowd mimicking the masked dancers and performing comic routines in their funny masks with long red noses and faces yet they are the ones who maintain the order. People even believe that they are the religious teachers.

There are also secular festivals like the birth anniversaries of the kings, national day celebrations, etc., where people gather in their colourful national dresses and witness programmes dedicated to the particular day's celebration.