Capital of Bhutan

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23/09/06 Thimphu

One of the most famous Buddhist Lama masters of Bhutan was Lam Drup Kinley, better known as the Divine Madman, and certainly my favourite character from all Bhutanese history, that I have encountered to date. Temples in his name are dedicated to fertility and he is the reason for the wonderful phallus paintings that adorn Bhutanese houses.

The Takin zoo is a small park area housing a dozen or so takin(or is it takins, and what is the collective noun for takin, I’ll have to check that out!) The animal that ‘befuddles taxonomists’ according to a sign in the zoo, is native only to the Himalaya region and looks like a wooly cow with a goats head stuck on (and goat looking legs). According to legend, the Divine Madman was asked to perform a miracle. He agreed, but only if first he was given a meal of a cow and a goat to eat. On finishing his meal - he allegedly ate both, he threw the goat’s head onto the pile of cow’s bones and instantly the animal came to life and started to run the field.

After the takin zoo, we wondered around the Thimphu shops for a while, dined in the Bhutan kitchen restaurant and went to a bar for some local Bhutanese whiskey. Our hotel for the night, the Wangchuk resort, named after the first king of Bhutan, was a short drive out of town up into the pine forest and reminded me of an Alpine ski chalet.

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Photos

House Decoration
A typical phalus painting adorns the exterior of a Bhutanese cottage, courtesy of the Divine Madman

Takin
Wooly cow with Goats head and legs

Story of the creation of the Takin
As per the information board at the Takin zoo, Thimphu

Comments

[..fish..]

Typical?
Re: the typical phallus painting - would that be a typical painting of a phallus, or a painting of a typical phallus? It's not me that needs to know, you understand! ..fish..