Page 21 - BHUTAN 2007

try to describe and name each of the wonderful edifices we visited. Suffice it
to say, we admired the architecture and enjoyed the visits immensely and

found each one intriguing, foreign, and in many ways quite mystifying since

we are not really very conversant with Buddhism and its many myths and

rituals.

Visits to two of these dzong-based monasteries provided deeply moving and

revelatory experiences for us. At the Thimphu Dzong, we heard chanting
and bell-ringing wafting across the central courtyard as we entered. We

made some stops at paintings and statues so Kelzang could explain them to

us but gradually the music became a strong magnet pulling us to follow the

sounds. We were allowed to go into the temple (barefooted) but not to use

cameras. We sat alongside the altar a little removed from it while a yellow-
robed lama on a raised throne and his fellow monks in red were spread on

the floor in rows in front of the altar, which was adorned with fruit, flowers

and water vessels. The monks were intoning in monotones while drums

beat a cadence and the temples bells were jangling discordantly. Kelzang

explained to us that the monks were saying special prayers for the head
abbot who was in Bangkok undergoing surgery for a life-threatening

condition. We sat on the floor with our legs folded beneath us

(uncomfortable after only a short time) listening. At last, the monks began

using the strange “throat singing” we had heard before in recordings. At the

same time, larger drums came out and the long (3 yards) horns whose bells
actually must rest on the floor were sounded. The throat singing is very

unusual and difficult to describe because it is so guttural yet musical. The

tones produced are very low, much lower than the lowest operatic bass you

have ever heard, and very throaty and almost growly. But the ceremony

must have produced something miraculous because as the cacophony

reached its greatest stridency, a flight of pure white pigeons rose up from
the courtyard outside and behind the lama and flew towards the heavens.