I have seen too little of the world
outside Bhutan but that little experience away from home awakened my
appreciation for the depth of our own country. Now I desire to travel deeper in
our own country and its history than anywhere away.
Isn’t it sad that we have nothing much
written down as history. We say we are rich in oral literature and history but
if you realize, much is lost in transmission from one mouth to another and one
generation to another. More than losing is the threat of manipulation as
stories travel through time.
What hasn’t been changed, what hasn’t
been altered are the stories stored in objects from the past. But sadly those
stories are collecting dust in museums, and much of what people had in their
homes have flown to Nepal through black market routes and rest are waiting in
the handicraft shop to be sold out to western tourists.
So considering that our villages are
transformed, though even if they were intact not many of us spend time there,
museums are our only hope of finding original stories that are rarely heard, or
never heard in its truest form.
Sometimes the mystery of our unclear
history is frustrating but other times it turns out that the same mystery
defines what Bhutan is. It is that desire to explore the unknown, which makes
life all so meaningful for some of us. It’s the urge to travel in back in time
and not just live life forward but also add a backward dimension to life. Life
becomes so much bigger.
While time machine called museum is as
cheap as Nu.20 per adults and Nu.5 for students; a pizza can fund a class of 40
students to any museum in Bhutan but in my 7 years on Facebook I have seen
thousands of pictures of children posing with pizzas but not a single picture
of child posing outside a museum.
Paro Penlop Dawa Penjor Heritage
Farmhouse, one of the private museums I visited was confused when my group
asked for visiting fee. They have never received any Bhutanese visitors and
therefore haven’t thought of an entry fee for Bhutanese. The lady was so happy
to receive the first group of Bhutanese visitors that she offered us ara and
suja like she did for fee paying tourists, all for free. We were so touched the
we offered no less than any tourists.
Dear parents take your children for
swimming to given them the best physical exercise, take your children to a
library for the best mental exercise, and take your children to a museum to
exercise their imagination. Take them back in time because so many answers they
may seek in the future are buried in the past.
Following is a list of Museums I have
visited. It’s just a list for now, specifics of each will be written in the
following blogs.
- National Museum of Bhutan, Paro
- The Tower of Trongsa, Trongsa
- Paro Penlop Dawa Penjor Heritage Farmhouse, Paro
- Folk Heritage Museum, Thimphu
- Simply Bhutan, a Living Museum, Thimphu
- Druk Home Museum, Paro
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| National Museum of Bhutan |
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| The Tower of Thongs |
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| Druk Home Museum |
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| Paro Penlop Dawa Penjor Heritage Farmhouse |
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| Simply Bhutan, A Living Museum |
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| Folk Heritage Museum |
