Festivals in Bhutan

Basically Bhutan celebrates types of festivals. That is secular and religious

Secular Festivals

National days is celebrated on December 17 every year and its the day when first king of Bhutan was crowned. And also Feb 21 is the Kings birthaday and this two are celebrated across the coutry with parades and dances by students.

New year (losar) is another important one, and in Bhutan we follow lunar calander so is different from international one. Basically new years are merry making with friends and families. And some play archery but there is not major celebration as such.

Religious Festivals

Tsechu which means (Tenth Day) are the festivals in honour on Guru Padmasambhava for his great deeds. This great deeds are believed to have taken place on tenth day including his birth, so the names are given Tsechu even if it does not fall on teth day.

Depending from place to place Tsechus are celebrated for 3 to 5 days. During this time there will be various sacred dances being performed along with some other cultural program. And in most of the places, they will display the big paintings called Thongdrol in one of the Day. Thongdrol literally means simply by viewing/seeing people can be delivered from cycle of reincarnations.

Tshechus are grand events where entire communities come together to witness religious mask dances, receive blessings and socialize. In addition to the mask dances, tshechus also include colorful Bhutanese dances and other forms of entertainment.

It is believed that everyone must attend a Tshechu and witness the mask dances at least once to in order to receive blessings and wash away their sins. Every mask dance performed during a Tshechu has a special meaning or a story behind it and many are based on stories and incidents from as long ago as the 8th century, during the life of Guru Padmasambhava. In monasteries, the mask dances are performed by monks and in remote villages, they are performed jointly by monks and village men.