Country in Asia. Its system of government is a hereditary monarchy; it is the last independent Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas. Bhutan shares its southern border with India, on the edge of the Brahmaputra plain, and its northern border with the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China in the high mountain ranges of the eastern Himalayas.
One of the most striking features of Bhutan is its isolation. Until the 20th century there was virtually no contact with people to the south of the country. The easier routes to travel had always been to the north and therefore Tibetan culture has had the most influence on Bhutan’s religious and ethnic make-up over the centuries. The Drukpas, people who mostly live in the western half of Bhutan, have origins connected with Tibet. Another significant group, the Sharchop people in eastern Bhutan, are thought to be descendants of peoples who pre-date the Tibetan influxes. Around 95% of the population practises subsistence farming, which mainly consists of growing rice in terraces. The capital city, Thimphu, in the western part of the country and halfway between India and Tibet, is at an altitude of 2300 metres.
Little is known about the early history of Bhutan. The Bon religion was widespread before Mahayana Buddhism was introduced from Tibet during the 7th–8th centuries. The Drukpa school of Tantric Buddhism, a branch of the Kagyupa sect in Tibet, was established in Bhutan in the 13th century. In the 17th century the powerful lama Ngawang Namgyel of the Drukpa school unified the country and set up a theocratic system of government. Since that time the Bhutanese have called themselves Drukpas. Ngawang Namgyel was called the shabdrung, a title which means ‘at whose feet one submits’; beneath him were the je khempho (rje mkhan-po), the religious leader, and the desi (sde-srid), the temporal leader. The shabdrung (zhabs-drung) began to build a series of fortress-monasteries (dzong/rdzong) throughout Bhutan. These dzong still house the administrative offices of the regions. The system of shabdrung leaders was perpetuated through reincarnation until the 20th century. In 1907 a monarchy was founded with the coronation of Ugyen Wangchuck, a former regional governor. The current monarch is the fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck.
The first outside assistance came from India in the 1950s. However, the widespread effects were not felt until the 1980s, when schools and health units became available to the majority of people across the country. In order to foster a sense of national identity the king strictly enforces a code of conduct called driglam namzha (sgrigs-lam rnam-bzhag), which deals with adherence to traditional behaviour and respect for customs. For example, national dress is to be worn at all times and all houses are to be built in traditional style. Outside influences are carefully monitored and controlled: the use of television receivers is banned, and the number of foreigners allowed into Bhutan annually is limited.
A large minority group in Bhutan, called Southern Bhutanese (ethnically Nepalese), staged demonstrations in 1990 over the rigid enforcement of driglam namzha. Since then many Southern Bhutanese have been denied nationality and have left the country for refugee camps in eastern Nepal. Their music is not discussed here and there has been no known research into their traditions.
There are 18 classified languages in Bhutan and many more dialects. Dzongkha is the official language. Classical Tibetan, Choeki, is the language of the Buddhist texts. Both Dzongkha and Choeki belong to the Tibeto-Burman subgroup of the Sino-Tibetan language group.
3. Music and the sacred world.
SARA NUTTALL
The two major non-ritual song genres heard in Bhutan are the boeda (bod-sgra) and the shungda (gzhung-sgra). Boeda literally means ‘song from Tibet’, but the Bhutanese today consider it very much their own genre. The form is characterized by short phrases and a regular rhythm (ex.1).
Traditionally boeda are sung in Dzongkha or, less frequently, in Choeki. Recently boeda have been written in other Bhutanese languages, particularly Sharchop. The lyrics of a boeda are typically about nature, travelling or love. The song is generally performed as entertainment in the home, at village celebrations or to entertain senior government, royal or religious figures. It is usually accompanied by the dramnyen (sgra-snyan), the Bhutanese lute, in heterophony with the voice. With larger groups, and if the boeda is being used for dance, the song is unaccompanied. It is common for the Bhutanese to sing unaccompanied boeda when travelling on foot.
The shungda is characterized by a long melodic line and a lack of regular rhythm. The shungda is known to have existed in Bhutan in the 17th century, at the time of the first shabdrung. The Bhutanese consider the shungda an indigenous genre and it does not appear to have musical characteristics similar to those of songs in neighbouring countries. The word shungda means ‘sound of the centre’, a reference to the centre of government or governing power, and is a song generally performed by musicians of the court and a few specialist musicians in villages. The Bhutanese national anthem is a shungda. Most shungda are sung in Choeki, the rest in Dzongkha. Although the shungda have non-ritual texts, the most common theme is religious (e.g. about the origins of Buddhism or a religious ethical issue). The shungda was probably originally sung unaccompanied. Today the solo singer usually accompanies himself or herself on the dramnyen. The phrases are long, melismatic and highly decorated with a type of ornamentation called nyenku (snyan-khu), a combination of trill and mordent-like figures added according to the taste of the individual musician (ex.2).
The dramnyen is played in heterophony with the voice, with a characteristically rapid rhythm. If the shungda is danced to, the dancers stand in a straight line and move their bodies and arms slowly in an undulating motion. The shungda may be performed as private entertainment, at village events such as an archery competition, for government officials or royalty, or before a lama as a non-ritual offering to the gods.
Other song genres can be heard throughout Bhutan and are usually not accompanied by the dramnyen. There are village songs called the tsangmo (gtsang-mo) or jhe (gzhas) (jhem (gzhas-ma) if sung by women), and a popular eastern Bhutanese song called the alo (a-lo). There are also songs which accompany manual labour (e.g. for working in the fields, or for building houses).
There are five musical instruments considered by the Bhutanese to belong to the non-ritual sphere of music. The dramnyen is a long-necked, fretless lute with seven strings, one of which is only half the length of the others (its peg appears half-way along the neck). It is played with a wooden plectrum. The bowl and neck are made of hollowed-out wood. The soundholes are two spiral shapes carved out of the front wooden panel above the soundboard. Traditionally snake- or crocodile-skin is stretched across the soundboard; today instrument makers tend to use more easily available materials, such as cow- or goatskin. The strings are tuned in 4ths in two double courses and one triple course; the approximate pitches are g–G–c'–c–c–f–f. The whole instrument is ornately painted in several colours. Traditional Buddhist motifs, such as clouds or a floral design, typically decorate the neck and the back of the bowl. Some instruments have a painting of Lama Yangchenma, the goddess of music, or other religious symbols, on the front between the soundboard and the neck (fig.1).
The Bhutanese dramnyen has the head of a mythical sea animal called a chusing (chu-srin) carved into its semicircular pegbox. Whereas dramnyen are also found in other parts of the Himalayas, such as Tibet, Nepal, Ladakh and Sikkim, instruments from these regions may also use other fauna such as a bird, horse or lion on the pegbox. The Bhutanese instrument uses the chusing exclusively.
The dramnyen accompanies singers of boeda or shungda songs. It is also used to play solo instrumental versions of these genres. The dramnyen is played by specialist villagers or by urban dwellers who play in ensembles. Some monks also play the dramnyen. However, this is a private activity and they would never play it as part of their ritual duties.
The Bhutanese lim (gling-bu) is a six-holed duct flute, made of bamboo. The vertical flute is called a dunglim (dung-gling), and the transverse flute a zulim (zun-gling). Its repertory is that of popular Bhutanese songs. It is commonly played by young animal herders in remote pastures.
The kungtha, a jew’s harp, is usually made of bamboo or metal. It is normally played by village women performing melodies especially composed for the instrument. The dramnyen, lim and kungtha are the three instruments most commonly played by Bhutanese villagers.
The pchiwang (pyi-wang) is a two-string bowed fiddle, similar to the Chinese erhu and the Tibetan piwang, and is said to have come to Bhutan from Tibet. The bow of the pchiwang is threaded between the two strings. The strings are metal, the soundboard cow- or goatskin and the cone is made of animal horn, often buffalo. The pchiwang was originally played in Bhutan by mendicants who would travel from village to village playing popular melodies in exchange for food. Today the pchiwang is more commonly heard as part of an ensemble of instruments.
The yangchen (yang-chin), the most recent instrument to be introduced to Bhutan apart from Western pop music instruments, is derived from the Chinese yangqin. It is thought that the first yangchen to become part of a Bhutanese music ensemble was brought into the country in the 1960s by a Tibetan refugee who joined the Royal Academy of Performing Arts. The yangchen is a hammer zither with a hollow wooden trapezoidal box and several triple or quadruple courses of metal strings. There are two bridges, each supporting alternate courses of strings. The instrument is struck with two long, thin, flexible bamboo sticks, one held in each hand.
Bhutanese ensembles typically consist of a dramnyen, a lim, a pchiwang and a yangchen, or any combination of these. There are several ensembles based in Thimphu, composed of professional or semi-professional musicians. The ensembles, often joined by singers and dancers, play at most important royal, state or important Bhutanese events such as funerals, weddings and promotion celebrations. They also hold occasional concerts or make recordings for sale on cassette. The musicians play in heterophony and usually perform boeda rather than shungda, the former having a more regular rhythmic structure suitable for ensemble playing.
Bhutan’s wider contact with the outside world is a recent phenomenon and older Bhutanese can recall the period prior to the arrival of motor vehicles, aeroplanes and money. The national flag and national anthem were first introduced in Bhutan during the second half of the 20th century. Bhutan began joining international organizations in the 1960s. The first road to cross the country from west to east was not built until the mid-1980s. This road has had a huge impact on communications throughout the country, and has resulted in the opening up of previously isolated valleys and the growth of small towns which have developed from clusters of trading shops and inns along the roadside.
The Bhutanese have tried to acquire some of the benefits of the outside world without losing the country’s heritage and identity. ‘Bhutanization’, a concept that requires any project to be sensitive to traditional Bhutanese culture, is a component of nearly all development plans made by the government. Despite the national policy of cultural protection, outside influences are being felt in Bhutan. Although receiving television transmissions from other countries is banned, videos, mostly of Hindi movies, are widely available in the capital Thimphu. Cassettes of Hindi, Tibetan and Western music are popular, and several shops in Thimphu have a good trade in foreign music. Magazine photos of Western pop stars are common wall decorations for the young and young amateur musicians in the capital are learning to play guitars and drums. However, the musicians of Bhutanese ensembles are also producing cassettes of their own traditional music which are popular. As well as playing traditional arrangements these ensembles are experimenting with recordings of well-known Bhutanese songs played by a standard ensemble with, for example, synthesizer and electric guitar. In other innovations the dramnyen may accompany a song with a Hindi melody and Bhutanese words.
The Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) is Bhutan’s national radio station and has played a key part in recent developments in Bhutanese music. Prior to the building of the lateral road and the founding of the BBS in the early 1980s, the majority of people heard only the music of their own valley, or of one or two neighbouring valleys. The isolation and difficult travelling conditions caused by Bhutan’s mountainous terrain resulted in the development of 18 distinct languages and dozens of dialects. This phenomenon also produced songs which varied slightly from valley to valley. The BBS has undertaken a huge project to travel throughout Bhutan to record and catalogue music and songs in an attempt to preserve the individual characteristics of each valley. These recordings are also being used as material for on-air programmes; the BBS plays very little non-Bhutanese music. Therefore, with the advent of radio a type of ‘cross-pollination’ is occurring, with people for the first time hearing songs from regions other than their own.
Buddhism as practised in late 20th-century Bhutan is of the Drukpa school of the Kagyupa sect and the Nyingmapa school, both forms of Mahayana Tantric Buddhism. Buddhist practices have been mixed with older, indigenous traditions, particularly of the Bon religion. Ritual music in Bhutan closely follows the practices of Tibetan ritual music and performing practice is laid down in detail in religious texts and musical scores. The music consists of chanting and the playing of a group of instruments. Monks play instruments, usually in pairs, such as dungchen (dung-chen), a metal trumpet two metres long; bjelling (rgya-gling), a shawm; rolmo (rol-mo), cymbals; and nga (rnga), a double-headed drum. Ritual music may be heard in temples throughout the country as an integrated part of the prayer ritual. Ritual music can also be heard at annual religious festivals called tshechus (she-bcu). These are held in monasteries across the country in honour of Guru Rinpoche who came to Bhutan to teach Buddhism in the 8th century. These festivals last for several days and attract people from distant villages who come to watch the moral teachings of Buddhism being enacted in dances and ceremonies (fig.2).
The monks also perform rituals with musical accompaniment outside the monastery. These rituals are most commonly held in village houses and are ceremonies for events such as funerals and house blessings. There has been, to date, little known research into the ritual music of Bhutan.
All music in Bhutan is thought to have some association with the divine. Non-ritual as well as ritual music is played to bestow peace and goodwill both on player and listener. The non-ritual instruments of Bhutanese music, although not part of the formally structured music of the temples, nevertheless have a symbolic part to play in Bhutan’s religious life. The dramnyen is never played in ritual Buddhist music, but it nevertheless has an important place in the temples of Bhutan, as a symbolic representation of music (it may appear on an altar as a silent offering to represent the faculty of hearing). The lim may also appear in this context. The dramnyen is often depicted in artwork in temples. It appears at the entrance to nearly all Bhutanese temples in the hands of the sharchop gyalpo, the King of the East, one of the four Guardians of the Directions. The goddess of music, Lama Yangchenma, is shown on Bhutanese thankas (painted or appliqué cloth scrolls hung on temple walls) playing the dramnyen. The dramnyen also appears in a dance which is part of the tshechu, the annual religious festival (fig.2). The dance is called a dramnyen cham (sgra-snyan ’cham) and the dancer plays the instrument as he dances. Here, however, the instrument’s sound is too soft to be heard by the crowd and the dramnyen’s role is symbolic.
Of particular importance to the Bhutanese musical culture is Lama Yangchenma. She is the patron of music, the arts and learning, and is the goddess of the aural sense and of wealth. According to mythology, music was created on earth when she first rose up from the river Ganges, sitting on a lotus leaf and playing the dramnyen (fig.1). Devout Bhutanese dramnyen players offer a prayer to Lama Yangchenma and invoke her presence before they begin to play.
Bhutanese musicians traditionally believe that the music produced by their instruments has the power to attract spirits and creatures. For example, the chusing, the mythological creature on the head of the dramnyen, is supposed to frighten away evil spirits which hover around the player listening to the sound of the instrument and which might send the player mad. Similarly the lim and the kungtha are not supposed to be played during the winter as their music might wake dormant insects and small animals and draw them outside, where they would die of cold.
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B. Chakravarti: A Cultural History of Bhutan (Chittaranjan, 1979–80, 2/1981)
F. Pommaret: An Illustrated Guide to Bhutan (Hong Kong, 1990, rev. 2/1991)
I. Collinge: ‘The Dra-nyen: an Emblem of Tibetan Culture’, CHIME, no.6 (1993), 22–33
S. Nuttall: The Bhutanese Dramnyen: Music and Change in the Dragon Kingdom (thesis, U. of Cambridge, 1993) [incl. disc]
M. Aris: The Raven Crown: the Origins of Buddhist Monarchy in Bhutan (London, 1994)
M. Aris and M.Hutt, eds.: Bhutan: Aspects of Culture and Development (Gartmore, 1994)
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