Buddhism is the prominent
religion/philosophy in modern Bhutan. It was brought to
Bhutan in 746 CE by Guru Rinpoche, the man regarded
there as a second Buddha. Before this time, the
predominant belief system was animism, where individual
deities control different aspects of nature. Over time,
these two belief systems merged, and most people in
Bhutan today follow Tantric Buddhism in which belief in
deities associated with nature complement those
associated with Buddhism. For example, while we were
traveling in central Bhutan, we came upon a landslide
that had washed out the only road connecting two cities.
Many of the people we encountered explained this as
having been caused by a deity that inhabited a tree
further down that same hillside. That deity was assumed
to have been unhappy since the local people had been
recently constructing a new temple devoted to another
deity.
photo M.
Noonan
In the sixteen hundreds, numerous
fortresses (called dzongs) were built around the
country. These dzongs were used to guard against
invasions. Built of stone and pounded mud, the dzongs
are still very imposing structures that epitomize the
beautiful architecture of Bhutan. Elaborate painting and
intricate carvings decorate these dzongs. In modern
times, the Bhutanese dzongs are no longer used for
military purposes, but still play a central role as
training sites for Buddhist monks.
photo M.
Noonan
Until recently, most Buddhist
families sent one of their sons to the monastery to
become a monk. This would occur when they were quite
young -- around the age of six. These boys were obliged
to train at the monasteries for most of the year, and
were allowed to return home for only one month each
summer. Later on, when they reached their teen years,
such boys would be able to live outside the monastery
for a short period of time. At this point, the boys were
given the choice of returning to the monastic life or
remaining with their families in town. Today, that
tradition is changing, and parents are increasingly
allowing their children to join a monastery only of
their own volition.
photo M.
Noonan