Yangtse Gewog

Ashi Kesang Choden Wangchuck

Ashi Kesang Choden Wangchuck (born 21 May 1930) is the Gyalyum (Royal Grandmother) of Bhutan, widow of the Third Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, mother of the Fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, and paternal grandmother of the reigning Fifth King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. A daughter of the Dorji family of Bhutan and Sikkim, she has been a central figure in the Wangchuck dynasty for more than seven decades.

Kholongchhu Hydroelectric Project

The Kholongchhu Hydroelectric Project is a 600 MW run-of-river facility under development in Trashiyangtse District, eastern Bhutan. The first India-Bhutan hydropower project structured as a joint venture, it is being implemented by Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited (KHEL), a partnership between DGPC and SJVN Limited.

Taktsang Monasteries of Bhutan

Taktsang ("tiger's lair") is a class of cliffside hermitages across Bhutan associated with the meditation of Guru Padmasambhava and his consorts. While Paro Taktsang is the most famous, the network includes Singye Dzong in Lhuentse, Taktsang Pema Tsel in Bumthang and several smaller sites.

Cordyceps Industry in Bhutan

Cordyceps sinensis, known locally as yartsa gunbu and marketed internationally as "Himalayan gold," is one of Bhutan's most valuable non-timber forest products. Harvested at altitudes above 3,500 metres in seven dzongkhags during a tightly regulated May-June season, cordyceps has become the primary cash income source for thousands of highland households, with auction prices reaching Nu 4.3 million per kilogramme for top-quality specimens.

Kurichhu Hydroelectric Plant

The Kurichhu Hydroelectric Plant is a 60 MW run-of-river hydroelectric facility on the Kurichhu river in Mongar District, eastern Bhutan. Commissioned in 2001 with Indian financing, it was the first hydropower project in eastern Bhutan and provided a critical energy source for the country's least developed region.

History of Dagana Dzong

Dagana Dzong, formally known as Daga Trashiyangtse Dzong, is a frontier fortress in southern Bhutan built in 1651 on the orders of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. It has served as an administrative and monastic centre for the Dagana district for over three and a half centuries.

Traditional Architecture of Bhutan: A Guide

Bhutanese traditional architecture encompasses a distinctive building tradition characterised by rammed earth and timber construction, elaborately carved wooden windows (rabsel), sloping roofs, and symbolic decorative elements rooted in Buddhist cosmology. A national building code requires that all new construction — including modern commercial and government buildings — incorporate traditional architectural elements, making Bhutan one of the few countries in the world where vernacular building traditions are legally mandated. Regional variations between western, central, and eastern Bhutan reflect different climatic conditions, available materials, and cultural influences, while modern adaptations seek to reconcile traditional aesthetics with contemporary functional requirements.

Coming of Age in Bhutan

Coming-of-age traditions in Bhutan encompass a range of cultural, religious, and social practices that mark the transition from childhood to adulthood. Unlike many societies that observe a single coming-of-age ceremony, Bhutanese transitions are woven into a series of milestones including religious initiations, assumption of adult dress, participation in communal labour, and the taking on of household responsibilities. These traditions vary across regions, ethnic groups, and social contexts, and have evolved significantly in the modern era.

Child Malnutrition in Bhutan

Child malnutrition in Bhutan encompasses stunting, wasting, micronutrient deficiencies, and emerging overweight concerns, with significant disparities between rural and urban areas and between eastern and western regions, despite decades of progress that have reduced stunting from over 60 percent to approximately 18 percent.

Bhutanese Painting Classification System

The Bhutanese painting classification system categorizes traditional architectural painting (Lhazo) into quality tiers (Rab, Ding, Thamar, and Yutshon) and two structural painting techniques (Sumdang and Dangtshon). Regulated by the government, these classifications determine which painting styles may be applied to different types of buildings.

Matsutake Mushroom in Bhutan

The matsutake mushroom (Tricholoma matsutake), known in Bhutan as sangay shamu, is a high-value wild-harvested mushroom that grows in symbiotic association with Himalayan oak and pine forests in central Bhutan. Principal collection sites include Genekha in Thimphu dzongkhag and Ura and Chhumey in Bumthang. The harvest season runs from June to September; the mushroom is collected under permits issued by the Department of Forests and Park Services and is exported in part to Japan, where it commands premium prices. Annual matsutake festivals at Genekha and Ura have promoted the trade since the late 2000s.

Bhutan Honey Industry

The honey industry in Bhutan is small in absolute terms but has expanded since the 1990s through government apiculture extension and the formation of beekeepers' cooperatives. In 2024 around 7,500 households were engaged in beekeeping, producing roughly 42 metric tonnes of honey. The Beekeepers' Cooperative of Bhutan, founded in 1997 in Bumthang, is the principal organised producer; high-altitude rock-cliff honey collection by Apis laboriosa is regulated by conservation rules. Domestic demand exceeds production, and India remains the principal source of imports.

Ramsar Sites of Bhutan

Bhutan acceded to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance on 7 September 2012, becoming the convention's 161st Contracting Party. The country has designated three Ramsar sites: Bumdeling in Trashi Yangtse and Khotokha in Wangdue Phodrang, both designated on accession in 2012, and Gangtey-Phobji in Wangdue Phodrang, designated in 2014 as Ramsar site number 2264. All three are wintering grounds for the vulnerable black-necked crane, and management is shared between the Department of Forests and Park Services and the Royal Society for Protection of Nature.

Cordyceps in Bhutan

Cordyceps (Ophiocordyceps sinensis), the caterpillar fungus, is harvested in Bhutan's high-altitude alpine meadows and generates millions of dollars in annual revenue for highland communities. The Royal Government regulates harvesting through seasonal permits and quota systems to balance the economic benefits with sustainability concerns.

2006 Abdication of Jigme Singye Wangchuck

On 14 December 2006 the Fourth Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicated the throne of Bhutan in favour of his eldest son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. The handover, signalled by a royal kasho on 9 December, brought forward by roughly two years a transition the Fourth King had publicly trailed since December 2005, and prepared the country for the constitutional and democratic transformation that followed in 2008.

Ethnic Groups of Bhutan

Bhutan is home to several distinct ethnic groups, principally the Ngalop of the western highlands, the Sharchop of the east, and the Lhotshampa of the southern foothills. Smaller indigenous communities, including the Kheng, Bumthap, and nomadic Brokpa, contribute to a diverse social fabric shaped by geography, migration, and state policy.

Handicraft Industry of Bhutan

The handicraft industry of Bhutan encompasses the traditional arts and crafts produced by Bhutanese artisans, including textiles, woodwork, metalwork, painting, bamboo craft, and papermaking. Rooted in the centuries-old Zorig Chusum (Thirteen Traditional Arts), the sector is an important source of rural livelihoods and cultural preservation.

Dechenphug Lhakhang

Dechenphug Lhakhang is a 12th-century monastery in the northern Thimphu valley, founded by Dampa, the son of Phajo Drugom Zhigpo. It is the principal abode of Geynyen Jagpa Melen, the protector deity of the Drukpa Kagyu school, and houses a speaking statue of Guru Padmasambhava.

Maternal Health in Bhutan

Bhutan has achieved a dramatic reduction in maternal mortality, from over 1,000 per 100,000 live births in the 1980s to 53 per 100,000 by the National Health Survey 2023. Free healthcare, trained birth attendants, and universal facility delivery have driven the improvement, though geographic barriers persist in remote districts.

Tsharzo — Bamboo and Cane Work

Tsharzo (Dzongkha: tshar bzo) is the traditional Bhutanese art of bamboo and cane weaving, one of the Zorig Chusum (thirteen traditional arts and crafts). Practitioners produce a wide range of utilitarian and ceremonial objects including baskets, food containers, quivers, bows, wine strainers, and the iconic bangchung — a finely woven lidded basket used for serving rice at meals and festivals. The craft is particularly associated with eastern Bhutan, where abundant bamboo forests supply raw materials.