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Bhutan's Enlightened Experiment

Guided by a novel idea, the tiny Buddhist kingdom tries to join the modern world without losing its soul.

/2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-01.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-01.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario Morning studies done, monks at Kurjey Lhakhang monastery head out for lunch—and into a new world. This year, after holding national elections, Bhutan will become a constitutional monarchy, ending a century of absolute rule by kings. http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1130452 /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-02.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-02.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario Boys fill sacks of potatoes—setting some aside for an elderly woman—near the village of Zhangkhar in eastern Bhutan. Roughly three-quarters of the country's 635,000 people survive by raising crops and livestock, but less than a tenth of this rugged land is arable. /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-03.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-03.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario At a bar in Thimphu owned by their mother, 12-year-old Jigme Lhendup and his sister Sonam, 9, show off their hip-hop moves. A part-time movie actor, Jigme says his favorite subject in school is social studies: "I'm learning about the world." /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-04.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-04.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario For rice farmers in Paro, and other Bhutanese, the official measure of well-being is Gross National Happiness. Introduced in 1972 by King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, GNH provides a less materialistic way to measure success than GNP. In Bhutan the pursuit of happiness—and its attainment—are state business. /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-05.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-05.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario It's the only public golf course in Bhutan, and among the world's most remote. But the Royal Thimphu Golf Club—with a 2,800-yard, par-34, 9-hole layout—has plenty of local enthusiasts, most of whom are government officials or businessmen. Kids are beginning to play too, due in part to the work of Rick Lipsey, a golf writer for Sports Illustrated ]]>, who created the Bhutan Youth Golf Association in 2002. One of its missions: to teach Bhutan's children friendship, honesty, integrity, morality, and self-motivation—through golf. /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-06.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-06.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario Young women in Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-07.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-07.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario Demon (and crew member) Sonam Kuku gets bloodied on the set of Bakchha ]]>(A Ghost's Attachment ]]>). It's a horror film and a musical, says screenwriter Tshering Penjore. "A hit song almost always guarantees success." With 24 releases in 2006, Bhutan's movie industry is rising. /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-08.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-08.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario In the village of Menday Gang, women apply makeup before the filming of a dance sequence for the movie Bakchha]]>, by renowned Bhutanese director Tshering Wangyel. In short order, Bhutan has also made itself camera ready: Six Bhutanese films were produced in 2003; by 2006 that number increased to 24. /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-09.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-09.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario In Ganglakha, a village in southern Bhutan near the Indian border, ethnic Nepali migrant workers live in a netherworld. Although they are welcomed to Bhutan from India as laborers, they are denied Bhutanese citizenship because they would upset the country's existing ethnic balance—or so some Bhutanese leaders believe. /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-10.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-10.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario Afflicted with dengue fever, Tulase and her children, who live in the Samtse district, also face a social hurdle: Although Bhutanese citizens, they are ethnic Nepalis—and stigmatized. /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-11.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-11.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario Tens of thousands of migrant workers, many of them Indians who do the manual labor that Bhutanese citizens often shun, such as building roads, are also stigmatized. /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-12.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-12.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario Villagers gather at a water pump in Nimshong, just inside Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park in the Black Mountains. Electricity and phone service are mostly unavailable here, and the nearest road is a half day's walk away. Such rural isolation is still the rule in Bhutan. /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-13.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-13.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario Twenty-five-year-old Phomo washes her baby and her sister's baby in a pot on the porch outside their home in the village of Kudra, in Bhutan's Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park. Phomo and the babies are Monpas, one of the ethnic minority groups in Bhutan. /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-14.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-14.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario A rough-and-ready school in Jangbi draws 55 children from three villages. In such remote areas, lack of access to schools remains a problem. To increase enrollment, the government, in its last five-year plan, called for more than 120 community schools to be built. /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-15.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-15.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario At a school in Nimshong village, dentist Dorji Phurba (at left) looks on as students undergo medical exams, which include weighing in, eye tests, and dental care. Phurba is a member of a mobile unit of doctors traveling on foot to remote areas to provide health care to people who otherwise would never see a physician. /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-16.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-16.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario Wending her way through an eastern forest, Kunzang Choden sets off with her nine-month-old baby to visit family. Bhutan's high entry fee for visitors keeps such idyllic places free from crowds of backpackers. Preserving nature is one of the pillars of Gross National Happiness. http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1130461 /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-17.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-17.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario A caretaker lights yak-butter lamps near Taktshang monastery, which perches some 2,500 feet above the floor of Paro Valley. Expressions of devotion, the lamps are believed to dispel the darkness of ignorance. According to the Buddha, by offering lights "one becomes like the light of the world." /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-18.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-18.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario Novice monks enjoy a break under prayer flags at the Kurjey Lhakhang monastery in Bumthang. /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-19.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-19.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario In a room he shares with six other monks at a monastery in Wangdi Phodrang, Chencho (at left) is honest about his calling. It's hard work memorizing all the texts, but afterward you have a comfortable life, so its worth it, he says. "In the village, work is never ending." /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-20.jpg /2008/03/bhutan/img/bhutan-60-20.jpg Photograph by Lynsey Addario Hubs of royal and religious authority,dzongs ]]>like this one in Thimphu have long served as regional arms of the central government. The monarchy may have been fortified by an old Bhutanese proverb: "When there are too many carpenters, the door cannot be erected." Now, as the king relinquishes control, democracy puts those words to the test.