Saturday, March 27, 2021

Published March 27, 2021 by Nidup Jamtsho with 0 comment

Majesty The King began a Royal Tour of the east, arriving in Mongar yesterday accompanied by Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen and Their Royal Highnesses Gyalsey Jigme Namgyel and Gyalsey Ugyen Wangchuck.

Majesty The King began a Royal Tour of the east, arriving in Mongar yesterday accompanied by Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen and Their Royal Highnesses Gyalsey Jigme Namgyel and Gyalsey Ugyen Wangchuck. 


This morning, the first COVID-19 vaccination in Mongar Dzongkhag was administered in the presence of His Majesty The King, at Mongar Dzong. In accordance with the astrological recommendations to start inoculations with a 30-year old woman born in the monkey year, Karma Pema Wangmo became the first person to receive the vaccine in the Dzongkhag. 


His Majesty also visited Mongar High School, which is one of the several vaccination centers in the dzongkhag, and met with those administering and receiving the vaccination.


His Majesty said to those gathered that while the vaccine will be beneficial in protecting us during the pandemic, we need to continue to follow safety protocols diligently as a portion of the population, including children and pregnant or breastfeeding women, remain unvaccinated.




His Majesty The King will be in the east for the duration of the nationwide vaccination program. 


As the people of Bhutan pray for the success of the vaccination campaign during this important time, the Royal Visit is doubly significant for being His Royal Highness Gyalsey Ugyen Wangchuck’s first visit to the east.



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Published March 27, 2021 by Nidup Jamtsho with 5 comments

Lyonchhen Dr Lotay Tshering receives COVID-19 vaccine

The Prime Minister just received the COVID-19 vaccination at this quarantine centre, following the first auspicious inoculation at Lungtenzampa. 


In his second day of quarantine, special arrangements were made to ensure that the protocols were strictly adhered to while he received the vaccine. 


The prime minister walked from his room to the vaccination spot and received his jab. Sharing a few words, he sent prayers to people in the 205 gewogs, 20 districts and the entire nation saying this is the time to come forward and protect oneself as well as the nation from the disease.

Prime minister will come live on BBS after 7pm news tonight.

Source : Prime Minister's Facebook Page



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Published March 27, 2021 by Nidup Jamtsho with 0 comment

Ninda got the covid vaccine

 Ninda Dem 30, from Paro, got the covid vaccine. She is the first Bhutanese to get the covid vaccine. Happy to share some photos of Ninda getting vaccinated. 

Source: Ministry of Health 









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Friday, March 26, 2021

Published March 26, 2021 by Nidup Jamtsho with 0 comment

Earth Hour, 2021

 To encourage people to turn off unnecessary lights, World Wide Fund for Nature initiated the so-called Earth Hour. We are now marking the day every year across the globe. This year, 2021, it's on 27th March, 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM.



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Published March 26, 2021 by Nidup Jamtsho with 0 comment

Ninda Dem to be the first Bhutanese to get vaccinated with the covid vaccine

Ninda Dem, 30, from Paro. She will be the first person to receive COVID vaccine at 9AM tomorrow at Lungtenzampa MSS, Thimphu. The prime mister, Dasho Dr. Lotay Tshering to be the second person. 



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Thursday, March 25, 2021

Published March 25, 2021 by Nidup Jamtsho with 1 comment

Few words, which most of us mispronounce

Few words, which most of us mispronounce. Trying to correct the way my students pronounce the following words. I was also pronouncing those words wrongly a few years ago. 



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Monday, March 22, 2021

Published March 22, 2021 by Nidup Jamtsho with 1 comment

SMART: Five extraordinary qualities of Bhutanese: His Majesty's address on 12th Convocation Ceremony of RUB

 The acronym of extraordinary. qualities of Bhutanese people - Sincerity, Mindfulness, Astuteness, Resilience, and Timelessness, is SMART.




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Friday, March 19, 2021

Published March 19, 2021 by Nidup Jamtsho with 0 comment

The First Birth Anniversary of His Royal Highness, Gyalsey Ugyen Wangchuck

 Today is the special occasion, the first birth anniversary of His Royal Highness, the Gyalsey Ugyen Wangchuck. 


On this joyous occasion, I join the nation in wishing His Royal Highness a very happy birth anniversary. 


Prayers for the longevity and good health of our Royal Family. 




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Monday, March 15, 2021

Published March 15, 2021 by Nidup Jamtsho with 4 comments

Search In Yourself (SIY) workshop : Day-1 summarized takeaways

1. Every emotion contains Information. 

2. Emotional Intelligence should come before dealing with circumstances. 

3.Emotional skills are trainable. 

4. An emotionally intelligent person can become an outstanding leader, bring about stellar performance, and eventually lead a happy life. 

5. Mindfulness develops self-awareness that enables other domains of Emotional Intelligence.

6. Mindfulness can rectify the attentional blink. 

7. Mindful listening is the key to meaningful conversation. 

8. One's body interprets all sorts of feelings and emotions that a person is going through. 

9. Self-management is all about redirecting self from the compulsion to choice in any situation. 




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Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Published March 09, 2021 by Nidup Jamtsho with 1 comment

Lam Drukpa Kuenley in Punakha : Chimi Lhakhang and Toep Chandhana Lhakhang

Chimi Lhakhang in Punakha in the pale light of a summer evening is a thing of otherworldly beauty.  Along the quiet turquoise-green Punatsangchhu, past the roiling Toebi Rongchhu, there are nyes (sacred religious sites).  Alas, nature has reclaimed these sites entirely.


Figure 1: Chimi Lhakhang 

A yogi, scantily clad and heavily bearded, closed his eyes and shot a random arrow from Yamdrok in Tibet to see where it would land.  And there he would go, wherever his shaft lands, straying along to find his destiny.


But then, there were women and wine of the finest quality to be relished non-stop.  The highly realized and celebrated saint, born of the noble Gya clan, who had long parted with a sense of shame and puerility of the age, put off the plan to go after his wayward arrow for a while, and went to bed.


Imprints of fish on the rock

That was some 500 years ago from today.

As the morning sun rose from behind the snow-clad mountains, yellow as the tint of pure gold, the yogi jumped out of the bed and disappeared.  From Phari in Tibet to Paro in Bhutan, he walked, looking for the arrow.


In Toep Chandhana in Punakha, Bumo Pelzang Buthri, on whose doorstep the Yogi’s wayward arrow landed, there was an unusual commotion, a hue, and a cry.  By then, Lama Drukpa Kunley had arrived at Paro, looking for the arrow he let loose from Yamdrok, subduing bloodthirsty fiends and man-eating demons along the way.


Figure 2: Toep Chandhana Lhakhang 

It was a bright day when he arrived at Bumo Pelzang Buthri’s at Toep Chandana.  He took out his massive member and peed on the wall.  The hugeness of his fire-spitting wisdom thunderbolt had the children stunned with utter shock.


And then the yogi gazed up and made to the upper chamber of the house.  The mark that his arrow had left on the wooden stairs to the third floor was wide and fresh.  Once inside, he caught hold of Bumo Pelzang Buthri by the neck on the floor, his pants down and her skirt all up.  Toep Tshewang, Bumo Pelzang Buthri’s husband, rushed forth with a sword in his hand.  Before long, however, Drukpa Kunley had the sword by his right hand and twisted it into a knot.


Holding the knotted sword still and ramming the young and beautiful Pelzang Buthri all the while hard on the floor of Toep Tshewang’s altar, pronounced the crazy yogi from Ralung of the Gya clan thusly:


Toep Tsewang of Wang Silung loves truth

And I his sexy and bewitching wife 

And here, the lovers meet for truth and lust


Toep Tshewang stood there for a good while aghast, and then turned away, feeling helpless and utterly ashamed.  Knowing that the yogi was no ordinary monk, Toep Tshewang surrendered his young wife to the crazy yogi immediately and his soul to dharma eternally.


Wooden stairs on which Drukpa Kunley’s arrow landed

From that love between the crazy yogi and Bumo Pelzang Buthri was born Sangdak Gartoen, great-grandfather of fourth Druk Desi Gyalsey Tenzin Rabgay.


Thus, the legend of one of the greatest Drukpa yogis spread throughout Bhutan.  The people of the southern country of Mon were then terrorized by man-eating demons.  Bringing the demoness of Dochula down to where Chimi Lhakhang stands today, Lama Drukpa Kunley had her subdued for eternity under a black chorten.


But the crazy yogi needed more young girls and wine.  He took myriad consorts in Bhutan – Zhungzi Ashi Gyenzo, Pache Namkha Dem, Babi Bum Chenzom, Goentoe Samey Andzo, and Bumo Pelzang Buthri.


However, jealously sparked between women and demoness alike, because of Lama Drukpa Kunley’s massive fire-spitting wisdom thunderbolt.  Aum Choekim, a demoness near Chimi lhakhang, turn herself to a fearsome frame and attacked the lama when he was coming down the small trail along the Teobi Rongchu.  She was all nude, her hair down in Punatsangchu, her left leg on the ridge where Chimi lhakhang is today, and the other on the ridge opposite.


“Is it your ignorance that brought you here, or it is your death that you are seeking?” shouted Aum Choekim, lips of her massive dreadlocked vagina flapping in the air.  Drukpa Kunley had his fire-spitting wisdom thunderbolt by his right and caught Aum Choekim by his left hand and subdued her to eternal silence.


Now covered with thick overgrowth, the old highway that connected Wangdue to Punakha has to be bushwhacked to find a path.  It was this path that the crazy yogi Drukpa Kunley used to hunt the demons along the Punatsangchhu.  And along this forgotten trail are many nyes related to Lama Drukpa Kunley.

First, there is uzha (hat) under a tree.  It is massive. One is left to wonder what kind of a giant the yogi was.  And, of course, the imprints of his fire-spitting wisdom thunderbolt, here and there.  They are so huge even municipal corporations of this day have not been able to build sewers of that size.

Statue of Aum Choekim in Chimi Lhakhang

As Aum Choekim turned to a fish and disappeared into Punatsangchhu, Drukpa Kunley caught her by the tail and slammed her onto a giant rock.  The imprint of the fish is there, curved deep and vivid.  And there is Drukpa Kunley’s pot, a hole in a rock.  When a stone is thrown into it, there is a metallic sound.

There is the rock on which Lama Drukpa Kunley rested in pain, pointing his fire-spitting wisdom thunderbolt to Tsho Bangko in Punatsangchhu, from where he expected a demoness to come to attack him.  Drukpa Kunley had a huge penis indeed.

Phalluses galore on the walls en route to Chimi Lhakhang

But the demoness did not turn up.  Drukpa Kunley sent a message to Draphu Martika in Nepal where Guru Rinpoche was giving the blessing of long life.  He asked Guru to send a tshechu (holy water of long life).  Guru hurled the water from Martika.

There, unseen during summer the water level rises but seen during winter is tshechu pouring down from rock project in the shape of a penis and a vagina.

From here, Drukpa Kunley went towards Samdingkha, where he has left him fingerprints and a golden urn, among others.

When his brother Nawang Chogyel left for Tibet, Drukpa Kunley stayed back.

“You go ahead. Good wine and pretty asses of Bhutanese women are holding me back. We’ll meet again soon,” said Drukpa Kunley.

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Monday, March 8, 2021

Published March 08, 2021 by Nidup Jamtsho with 0 comment

Chechay Sanitary Pads : Made in Bhutan

 Chechay Sanitary Pads, the first of its kind manufactured in Bhutan. The firm was started in 2020. Within a short time, the firm marketed to most of the districts in Bhutan.

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With all positive feedback, the firm has great potential to grow bigger and sell on a larger scale. Support made in Bhutan product! 




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Published March 08, 2021 by Nidup Jamtsho with 1 comment

Dakini Day and International Women's Day

 This year the International Women's Day coincides with Dakini Day. Lots of love to mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, and all women in the world. Happy International Women's Day. 



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Friday, March 5, 2021

Published March 05, 2021 by Nidup Jamtsho with 0 comment

Digitallay Colorized Photograph of the Tongsa Penlop Ugyen Wangchuk taken by John Claude White in 1905.

 Photograph of the Tongsa Penlop Ugyen Wangchuk taken by John Claude White in 1905. Ugyen Wangchuk was a key player in the politics of Bhutan in the early 20th century. In the 19th century, Bhutan and the British in India had clashed over the control of the duars or passes into eastern India. The hostilities ended when the British and Bhutan signed the Treaty of Sinchula. By the late 19th century, power centered upon the Penlops of Paro and Tongsa.

 The Younghusband Mission of 1904, set up to negotiate with the Tibetans, passed through Bhutan. The Penlop of Paro remained aloof while the Penlop of Tongsa assisted the mission. He accompanied the mission to Tibet and played an important role as mediator, using the long-established ties between Tibet and Bhutan to help the British negotiate a favorable agreement. Bhutan now operated firmly within the British sphere of influence and Ugyen Wangchuk was popular after his role as mediator with both the British and the Bhutanese. This resulted in the foundation of the hereditary monarchy of Bhutan when Ugyen Wangchuk was elected King of Bhutan in 1907.

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Credit : Jigme Dendup



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Published March 05, 2021 by Nidup Jamtsho with 1 comment

Zero Active Cases Finally!

 The happiest news of the day: zero active cases for Covid-19 in Bhutan. Prayers for no new cases. 



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