Naro Gewog

Lingzhi Gewog

Lingzhi is one of the most remote gewogs in Bhutan, located in the northwestern highlands of Thimphu District near the Tibetan border. Accessible only by multi-day trek, it is home to semi-nomadic yak-herding communities and the historic Lingzhi Yugyal Dzong.

Tigers Nest hike: practical guide

A practical-trip guide to hiking Paro Taktsang, covering trail length, elevation, time on foot, dress code, the cafeteria, the horse option, opening hours, fees, and seasonal advice for international visitors.

Raven as Bhutan's National Bird

The common raven (Corvus corax tibetanus) is the national bird of Bhutan and the religious emblem of the Bhutanese monarchy. Its iconography is rooted in the protector deity Gonpo Jarog Dongchen, the raven-headed form of Mahakala, and it crowns the Druk Gyalpo's ceremonial Raven Crown.

Genekha Gewog

Genekha Gewog is a rural block in Thimphu Dzongkhag, Bhutan, about an hour's drive south of the capital. Known for its production of prized matsutake and chanterelle mushrooms, it hosts the annual Genekha Matsutake Mushroom Festival and serves as the starting point for the Dagala Thousand Lakes Trek.

Soe Gewog

Soe Gewog is a remote highland block in the far north of Thimphu Dzongkhag, Bhutan, under Lingzhi Dungkhag and bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region. Lying at altitudes from around 3,800 metres to over 5,000 metres at the foot of Jomolhari, it is the smallest gewog in the country by population, with a yak-herding community of about 200 people. Several of Bhutan's major trekking routes pass through it.

Buddhism in Bhutan

Buddhism is the state religion of Bhutan, practised by approximately 75 percent of the population. The Drukpa Kagyu school of Vajrayana Buddhism is the dominant tradition, with the Nyingma school also widely practised. Buddhism permeates every aspect of Bhutanese society, governance, architecture, festivals, and daily life.

The Drukpa Kagyu Lineage in Bhutan

The Drukpa Kagyu is the state religion of Bhutan and the Buddhist lineage from which the country derives its name, Druk Yul ("Land of the Thunder Dragon"). Founded by Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje in 12th-century Tibet after a vision of nine dragons ascending into the sky, the lineage was brought to Bhutan by Phajo Drugom Zhigpo in the 13th century and became the basis of national unification under Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in the 17th century.

Drukpa Kagyu

The Drukpa Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism is the state religion of Bhutan, deeply woven into the country's governance, cultural identity, and daily life. Founded by Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje in twelfth-century Tibet, the lineage was established in Bhutan by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in the seventeenth century and continues to shape Bhutanese society.

Thimphu District

Thimphu District (Dzongkha: ཐིམ་ཕུ་རྫོང་ཁག) is the most populous of Bhutan's twenty dzongkhags and contains the national capital, Thimphu. It serves as the political, economic, and administrative centre of the Kingdom of Bhutan, housing the seat of government, the royal palace, and the majority of the country's international organisations and diplomatic missions.

Thuksey Rinpoche

Thuksey Rinpoche (meaning "precious heart son") is a reincarnate-lama title of the Drukpa Kagyu, the Buddhist school that has been Bhutan's state religion since the 17th century. The first Thuksey Rinpoche, Ngawang Gyurme Palzang (1916–1983), was a leading Drukpa master who fled Tibet in 1959 and founded a monastery in Darjeeling. His present reincarnation, Jigmet Shedup Tenzin (born 1986), was recognised in 1987 and studied for nine years at Tango in Bhutan.

Blue Sheep in Bhutan

The bharal or Himalayan blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) is a wild caprine of Bhutan's northern alpine zone and the principal prey species of the snow leopard. Although classed by the IUCN as Least Concern globally, in Bhutan it is closely monitored for its role in supporting snow leopard conservation. Surveys in Jigme Dorji and Wangchuck Centennial National Parks have placed local densities among the highest recorded in the eastern Himalaya.

The Electricity Access Paradox in Bhutan

Bhutan generates vast quantities of hydroelectric power and exports the majority to India, yet imports electricity during winter months when river flows decline. Domestic consumption is projected to outstrip production by 2026, and electricity import costs surged 203 percent in a single year, creating what analysts describe as a paradox for one of the world's few carbon-negative countries.