RELIGION IN BHUTAN
Religions: Lamaistic (Tibetan) Buddhist: 75.3 percent; Indian- and Nepali-influenced Hinduism: 22.1 percent; other 2.6 percent, including a small numbers of Christians. (2005 estimated) According to the French group "Aide à l'Eglise en détresse" (Aid to the Church in Need) there are 12,255 Christians in Bhutan, including 1,000 Roman Catholics (0.9 percent of the population). There is also a small number of Muslims, 2,000 to 3,000 of them (0.5 percent of Bhutan’s population). [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2020; Wikipedia, Library of Congress, 1991,“Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”, Thomson Gale, 2006]
Lamaistic Buddhism is the state religion. About half of the Tibetan Buddhists in Bhutan belong to the Nyingmapa Buddhist sect (mainly ethnic Sharchops); and half belong to Drukpa Kagyudpa Buddhist sect (mainly ethnic Ngalop). These sects mix classical Buddhist beliefs with Bon — the native pre-Buddhist religious tradition of Tibet with shamanist and animist elements. Hinduism or a combination of Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism are practiced among the Nepalese in Bhutan, which make about a quarter of the country’s population and live primarily in southern and southwestern Bhutan.
Karma Phuntsho, an Oxford-educated Bhutanese scholar, wrote in the “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”:“The Indian saint Padmasambhava, who remains the most important spiritual figure in Bhutan, first brought Buddhism from the south in the eighth century. In the following centuries Buddhism came from the north through Tibetan missionaries, who disseminated Buddhist teachings across the country and firmly established it as the faith of the land. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries immigrants from Nepal brought Hinduism to the southern districts of Bhutan. Since the 1960s there has also been some restricted Christian missionary work in the south. “ [Source: Karma Phuntsho,“Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”, Thomson Gale, 2006]
Bhutan is the last surviving Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas. The state religion is the Drukpa sect of Kagyupa, a school of Tibetan (Vajrayana-Tantric) Buddhism. In the 11 centuries since it was introduced, Buddhism has shaped the nation's history and plays such a vital role in its daily life today one journalist described Bhutan as "a country drenched in religion." Buddhist shrines are scattered all over the kingdom. Hindu temples are used primarily by the Nepalese. The Bhutanese seem very superstitious and they have many religious customs that seem unusual to people in the West. Tibetan shamanism, rooted in Bon, a kind of Tibetan religion that predates Buddhism, is also practiced.
While the law provides for religious freedom, law prohibits conversions from the Drukpa sect of the Kagyupa School to other religions. The Drukpa (People of the Dragon) arrived from came from Tibet in the 12th century with Tibetan Buddhism and now dominate Bhutanese religious life through a large religious organization with more than 6,000 lamas (high-level monks) at eight major monasteries and 200 smaller gompas. The main sects of Tibetan Buddhism practiced in Bhutan are different than those practiced in Tibet, at least in part because Bhutan’s founders fled Tibet for religious and political reasons and because of strong desire by the founders to distinguish Bhutan from the expansion-minded Tibetans.
Religious Freedom in Bhutan
The Bhutanese government promotes religious freedom. All major Buddhist and Hindu religious festivals are celebrated in Bhutan. In 1980 the Bhutanese king declared Dussera, an important Hindu festival, a national holiday. Although foreign religious personnel are permitted to work in Bhutan, primarily as educators, they are not allowed to proselytize. According to the Bhutan government: The Bhutanese constitution guarantees freedom of religion and citizens and visitors are free to practice any form of worship so long as it does not impinge on the rights of others. Christianity, Hinduism and Islam are also present in the country. [Source: Tourism Council of Bhutan, tourism.gov.bt]
Bhutan is the only country in the world that has retained Tibetan Buddhism (the Vajrayana form of Mahayana Buddhism) as its national religion. Bhujel Dhan Kumar, South Asia Journal: “The constitution does protect religious freedom in the country but its practice has been limited to some extent, especially so when the government deems that religious activity interferes with the country’s identity and stability. However religious freedom has seen its growth in recent times with the government’s approval to construct a Hindu Temple in the capital and the granting of legal status to Christians. A majority of the population in the country is Buddhist following Mahayana Buddhism, and Hinduism forms the second largest population followed mainly by Lotshampas/southerners. Unconfirmed estimates also show that there might be about 6,000 to 20,000 Christians in the country. [Source: Democracy in Bhutan: A Critical Assessment by Bhujel Dhan Kumar, South Asia Journal, July 8, 2015]
“The Chhoedey Lhentshog, a religious regulatory body, was established in 2009. The government provides aid to most of the Buddhist monks and nuns but not to other religious leaders and learners. The country also observes major Buddhist holidays as national holidays but only one Hindu festival “Dassain” is observed as a national holiday. Other than that, there are no holidays for other religious celebration. Pressure is always there from the authority to observe traditional Buddhist values, including participation of all students irrespective of their religion in Buddhist prayers and rituals at schools. Civil servants are also required to take an oath of allegiance which is presided over by Buddhist lamas. Followers of other religions, except Buddhism and Hinduism, are free to worship in private but not allowed to practice in public.”
Religious Practice and Tolerance in Bhutan
Karma Phuntsho wrote in the“Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”: “Bhutan's main religious traditions are the Drukpa Kagyu and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Although Drukpa Kagyu is the state religion, the Nyingma school dominates central and eastern Bhutan. As they are close in philosophy and practice, most people view them as the same or of equal significance. Thus, there has been little sectarian tension, much less communal conflict, among the country's Buddhist communities. [Source: Karma Phuntsho, “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”, Thomson Gale, 2006]
“Most Bhutanese Buddhists, however, have strong reservations about other religious traditions. Some Christian missionary work has been condemned for using material incentives to proselytize and has even become a serious subject of debate in the National Assembly, the nation's highest legislative body. In the 1980s and 1990s there were political conflicts between the Nepali minority and the Bhutanese government, resulting in an exodus of a large number of ethnic Nepali. This ethnic conflict was also partly a religious struggle between Bhutanese Buddhists and Nepali Hindus.
Although the law provides for religious freedom, this right is not always evident in practice. Proselytizing is prohibited and all religious organizations must have a license from the government in order to build a new place of worship. There have been reports of government discrimination against the Hindu Nepalese. The royal family practices a combination of Drukpa Kagyup and Ningmapa Buddhism. Most Ngalops are of the Drukpa Kagyup school; they hold a majority of positions in the government. The Sharchops are primarily of the Ningmapa school. [Source: “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”, Thomson Gale, 2007]
Religion and Everyday Life in Bhutan
Life for many in Bhutan life is dominated by religion. Incense filled interiors and chanting monks are common sights. Tibetan horns are heard around the dzongs (fortified monasteres). Trails have prayer flags on them. The prayer flags at mountain passes are over half a meter tall and there are long strings of them. Temples and chortens (stupas) pop up on hiking trails. A Common chant heard on the trails is: “Om ah hung baza guru pema seday hung” ("please forgive us of we've killed insects on our way").
One of the most important figures in a Bhutanese village is “gomchen,” or lay priest. Monasteries usually sponsor two-day ceremonies to bless each local village in their realm. The ceremony features day-long sessions of chanting and horn blowing. Villagers visiting a monastery first wash their feet then enter the building, bow to the altar and sprinkle water, a symbol of life, on the ground. Many elderly Bhutanese go off on long mediation retreats.
Arthur Lubow wrote in Smithsonian Magazine: “Tantric, or Vajrayana, Buddhism — which employs esoteric techniques as a shortcut to enlightenment — took root in Bhutan in the eighth century through the efforts of the Indian sage Padmasambhava, who traveled widely in Tibet and Bhutan and is reverentially referred to as Guru Rinpoche, or "precious teacher." His influence is everywhere, not only in the many temples said to have been constructed by him and his followers, but also in contemporary jurisprudence. [Source: Arthur Lubow, Smithsonian Magazine, March 2008]
“When I asked a former Bhutanese smoker why the country banned cigarette sales (a brisk black-market trade persists), I was told that tobacco is made of the ash of a demoness who was shattered into a thousand pieces when kicked by Guru Rinpoche's horse. Such stories probably began as parables for how Buddhism superseded the animist Bon religion in Bhutan. However, the old gods were never completely effaced. Even today, the Himalayas in Bhutan are regarded as deities, and the Bhutanese government forbids mountain climbing, which has attracted so many tourists to neighboring Nepal.”
Animism and Shamanism in Bhutan
Though Bhutan is often portrayed as the last Tibetan Buddhist country, you often come across many animist and shamanist traditions and beliefs practiced by its people. The form of Buddhism practiced in Bhutan absorbed many features of Bon — the native pre-Buddhist religious tradition of Tibet with shamanist and animist elements — such as nature worship and animal sacrifice. Bhutanese also acknowledge a host of deities, invoking, worshiping and propitiating them. According to Bon these deities are the rightful owners of different elements and facets of nature, each associated with a specific type of spirit. [Source: Tourism Council of Bhutan, tourism.gov.bt]
For example, mountain peaks are considered as the abodes of guardian deities (Yullha), and lakes are inhabited by lake deities (Tshomem). Cliff deities (Tsen) reside within cliff faces and land belongs to subterranean deities (Lue and Sabdag). Water sources are inhabited by water deities (Chu giLhamu), and dark places are haunted by the demons (due).
Every village has a local priest or a shaman to preside over the rituals. Festivals with elements of animism include the Cha festival in Kurtoe, the Kharphud in Mongar and Zhemgang, the Bala Bongko in Wangdue Phodrang, the Lombas of the Haaps and the Parops, the Jomo Solkha of the Brokpas, the Kharam of the Sharchops and Devi Puja practiced by Hindu Nepalese in the south.
Shamanistic rituals are performed for various reasons such as keeping evil spirits at bay, bringing prosperity, curing the sick and troubled and welcoming the a new year. A common feature in all of these rituals has traditionally been the sacrifice of animals like oxen, fish, chickens or goats.
Bon
Before the introduction of Buddhism, animistic worship, generally categorized as Bon in the Himalayas, was prevalent in Bhutan. The sun, moon, sky, and other natural elements were worshiped, and doctrine was transmitted orally from generation to generation. Bon, from a Tibetan word meaning invocation or recitation, has priests — bonpo — who perform exorcisms, burial rites, and divinations to tame threatening demons and to understand the wishes of the gods. [Source: Andrea Matles Savada, Library of Congress, 1991 *]
Imported from Tibet and India, perhaps in the eighth century, Bon doctrine became so strongly reinvigorated by Buddhism that by the eleventh century it reasserted itself as an independent school apart from Buddhism. Conversely, Bon influenced popular Buddhism, infusing it with an appreciation for omens and demons felt to influence daily life profoundly. Bon established a canon of teachings and continued to be practiced in modern Bhutan.*
According to the “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life”: “Beliefs in sorcerers, spirits, demons, and the need for exorcisms as undertaken in the "devil dances" are thus a part of everyday Bhutanese religious practices. Lamas skilled in rituals are used to perform the necessary religious observances. Animal sacrifice has been replaced in Bhutan by the offering of torma, ritual figures made from dough and butter. [Source: “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life”, Cengage Learning, 2009]
Hinduism in Bhutan
The minority religion of Bhutan is Hinduism, whose adherents — those of Nepalese origin — officially constitute 28 percent of the population. Shaivite, Vaishnavite, Shakta, Ghanapath, Paurinic, and Vedic schools are all present. Despite Buddhism's status as the state religion, Hindus had de facto freedom of religion. The Druk Gyalpo decreed major Hindu festivals as national holidays, and the royal family participated in them. [Source: Andrea Matles Savada, Library of Congress, 1991, “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”, Thomson Gale, 2007]
Karma Phuntsho wrote in the “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”: The followers of Hinduism are mostly of Nepali ethnic origin and are concentrated mainly in the southern districts. As in India and Nepal, Hindu communities are divided into four major, and hundreds of minor, castes. The Brahmans, as the highest caste, transmit the religion through family lines and religious schools known as patshalas. Religious training is done in Sanskrit, the language of such Hindu scriptures as the Vedas and the Upanishads and of the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. In the 1970s and 1980s the government, in an endeavor to promote cultural and religious harmony, supported some of these Sanskrit patshalas and also encouraged scholars to write on the similarities between the Buddhist and Hindu religions. [Source: Karma Phuntsho, “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”, Thomson Gale, 2006]
“Bhutanese Hindus believe in the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva and observe dozens of religious festivals in a calendar year. The two most important occasions are the Dashain and the Tihar, both falling in October. During Dashain the goddess Kali is worshiped, and hundreds of animals are slaughtered as sacrificial offerings. This practice of animal sacrifice is perhaps the most contentious religious issue for southern Hindus and northern Buddhists. In contrast, Tihar, or Deepavali, which is celebrated with lights and fanfare, is a veneration of the goddess Lakshmi, and even some Buddhist Bhutanese take part in it. Such religious affinity is strengthened by the fact that Lakshmi, along with other gods, appears in both the Hindu and Bhutanese Buddhist pantheon.
“Among both Buddhist communities in the north and Hindu communities in the south, there is a growing number of Christian neophytes. The first Christian missionaries arrived in Bhutan as early as the seventeenth century. Active missionary work started only in the 1960s, but Christian movements, facing the opposition of staunch Buddhists, have not succeeded in Bhutan as they have in other parts of the Himalayas. Most Bhutanese shun Christian missionary work as proselytization of the poor and ignorant through economic and material incentives. A small, fledgling movement, Christianity has no known public place of worship or formal organization in Bhutan.
“Prior to the arrival of Buddhism, most Bhutanese followed folk beliefs that involved pagan and shamanistic practices. Some of these archaic religious customs — akin to, and often associated with, Bon, the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet — are extant in remote valleys. In addition, a wide range of folk beliefs and rituals are prevalent throughout Bhutan and sometimes play even more important roles than the institutionalized religions. Shamans, oracles, fortune-tellers, and astrologers form crucial components of Bhutanese society and are consulted on such occasions as birth, illness, and death as often as are Buddhist and Hindu clerics. They are trusted even more than the clerics on matters such as the construction of a new house, the beginning of a journey or a business, and the tracing of lost items. Although most of their practices have been assimilated into the greater Buddhist system, much of what they do evokes a local and folk religious culture reminiscent of pre-Buddhist Bhutan.
Superstitions and Folk Beliefs in Bhutan
The Bhutanese regard themselves as sensitive to the forces of nature rather than superstitious. Placating spirits is of upmost importance. Archers have their arrows blessed before major competitions. River spirits are assuaged before a bridge is built. Hydroelectric projects require elaborate rituals to trick the river goddess.
Bhutanese fill mountain passes with prayer flags to welcome and offer safe passage to "protector" deities. They also believed that spirits inhabitant the deep forest and they shouldn't be disturbed. “Harassed” deities have been blamed for causing wilderness lakes to bubble and boil. After complaints by yak herders, foreign mountain climbers were banned from climbing Bhutan’s sacred peaks.
Some Bhutanese believe female spirits with long hair roam the night and are attracted to the sound of whistling. "Singing is OK," a Bhutan guide told Julia Wilkinson. "But chanting a prayer is better. Some men Bhutanese believe that if smoke from a campfire blows in your face it means that you have urinated on the trail. They also say if you throw trash on a fire it will most likely rain sometime soon.
Astrologers are consulted for every important occasion: weddings, funerals, the birth of a child, before setting out on a journey, or entering archery contest. The newspaper Kuensel prints warnings by astrologers. When there are warning about travel people planning on flying somewhere cancel their seats on Druk Air flights. Students at the Astrological Institute in Changkha take a five years course that includes courses in philosophy, literature and mathematics. After the king was appointed to his position in 2006 his coronation was delayed until 2008 as court astrologers waited for an auspicious date.
Thunder Dragon and Bird Superstitions
Bhutanese mythology features yetis, flying tigers and mermaids that live in lakes. There are many stories great saints and fearless warriors, with magical or supernatural powers. Bhutan is known as the land of the Thunder Dragon, a creature present on the national flag, symbolizing the purity and fierceness of the country. According to some, belief in the Thunder Dragon is rooted from the fierce storms that roll in from the Himalayas that seem like a dragon swooping through the sky, producing dark, thunderous clouds and sheets of rain.
The King of Bhutan wears a raven crown — a hat with the embroidered head of a raven on top. The bird represents a form of Mahakala, Bhutan's guardian deity. The Bhutanese say that "all living things are sacred...but especially ravens." Killing a raven was once a capital offence: a crime worse than massacring a thousand monks, it was said. Even today elaborate offerings of dough and butter are left on the roofs of temples for ravens. The bird’s heralded position is related to the Tibetan custom of sky burials — where the deceased are cut into pieces and fed upon by vultures — except in Bhutan the feeding is also done by ravens and crows. [Source: "Bhutan" by John Scofield, National Geographic, November 1976 ~]
The Bhutanese also believe that chickens are sacred animals and pigs are evil. "For judgement in the period between death and rebirth," John Scofield wrote in National Geographic, "a chickens will put white pebbles onto a scale to represent their good deeds, while a pig shovels on black pebbles to signify the evil one has done." Bhutanese have traditionally eaten pork but not chicken. In the old days travelers used to carry live roosters in their knapsacks to ensure safety. ~
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Tourism Council of Bhutan (tourism.gov.bt), National Portal of Bhutan, the Bhutan government’s main site (gov.bt), The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Wikipedia and various books, websites and other publications.
Last updated February 2022