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Bumthang District

Coordinates: 27°45′N 90°40′E / 27.750°N 90.667°E / 27.750; 90.667
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

27°45′N 90°40′E / 27.750°N 90.667°E / 27.750; 90.667

Bumthang district
བུམ་ཐང་རྫོང་ཁག
District
Map of Bumthang District in Bhutan
Map of Bumthang District in Bhutan
CountryBhutan
HeadquartersJakar
Area
 • Total
2,717 km2 (1,049 sq mi)
Population
 (2017)
 • Total
17,820
 • Density6.6/km2 (17/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+6 (BTT)
HDI (2019)0.661[1]
medium · 6th
Websitewww.bumthang.gov.bt

Bumthang District (Dzongkha: བུམ་ཐང་རྫོང་ཁག་; Wylie: Bum-thang rzong-khag) is one of the 20 dzongkhag (districts) comprising Bhutan. It contains numerous temples and Buddhist sacred sites. The district is divided into four gewogs (village blocks),[2] each corresponding to a major glacial valley: Choekor, Tang, Ura, and Chhume. The latter valley is also called Bumthang, lending its name to the whole district.

Bumthang directly translates as "beautiful field" – thang means field or flat place, and bum is said be an abbreviation of either bumpa (a vessel for holy water, thus describing the shape and nature of the valley), or simply bum ("girl", indicating this is the valley of beautiful girls). The name is said[by whom?] to have arisen after the construction of Jambay Lhakhang.

Economy

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Kurje Lhakhang, Jakar
Kurje Lhakhang, Jakar
Tamshing Lhakhang, Jakar

Bumthang's primary agricultural products are wheat, buckwheat, dairy, honey, apples, potatoes, rice, and wool. Bumthang is also nationally famous for its textiles, such as yathra[3] and mathra weaving.[better source needed]

Languages

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East Bodish languages are primarily spoken in Bumthang District.[4]

The language spoken in the Bumthang district is known as Bumthangkha. It is a Tibeto-Burman language mutually intelligible with Khengkha and closely related to Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan. Bumthangkha is partially comprehensible to speakers of Dzongkha, which originated in valleys to the west of Bumthang. Each of the four valleys of Bumthang has its own dialect, and the remnants of the Kheng kingdom, near and in Zhemgang District to the south, speak Khengkha. Historically, Bhumthangkha and its speakers have had close contact with speakers of Kurtöpkha to the east, Nupbikha to the west, and Khengkha to the south, to the extent that they may be considered part of a wider collection of "Bumthang languages".[5][6][7][8]

Brokkat, an endangered[9] Southern Bodish language, is spoken by about 300 people in the village of Dhur in Bumthang Valley. The language is a remnant of pastoral yakherd communities.[10][11]

The map of Bumthang District's village blocks

Environment

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Most of Bumthang District is part of Bhutan's extensive protected areas network. The northern two-thirds of the district (the gewogs of Chhoekhor and Tang) belong to Wangchuck Centennial Park, buffered by pockets of biological corridors. Southern Bumthang (the gewogs of Chhumig and Ura) is part of another protected area, Thrumshingla National Park.[12][2] Bumthang has a large migratory population of black-necked cranes, which hold cultural significance.

Landmarks

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  • Membartsho (Burning Lake), where sacred scriptures were hidden by Padmasambhava in the 8th century and later recovered by Pema Lingpa in the 15th century.[13]
  • Kurjey Lhakhang, the final resting place of the remains of the first three Kings of Bhutan.[14]
  • Jakar Dzong, adjacent to the main town of Jakar.
  • Jambay Lhakhang, one of the two most ancient temples of Bhutan, built in the 7th century by Songtsän Gampo, founder of the Tibetan Empire.[15]
  • Tamzhing Monastery, the most important Nyingma institution in the country.
  • Padtshaling Gonpa, The monastery was established by the first Padtshaling Tulku Siddha Namgyal Lhendub in 1769, according to the prophecy of Lhasa Jowo.
  • Drazhi or the Four Great Cliffs of Guru Rinpoche.[16]
  • Shuk Drak Goenpa, a cliff where Guru Rinpoche visited and meditated to acquire the spiritual power to subdue Shelging Karpo.[17]
  • Choedrak Monastery, a monastery built against the sacred cliff of Guru Rinpoche by Gyalwa Lorepa in the 12th century.[18]
  • Tang Rimochen Lhakhang, the holy site that has marks like tiger stripes, where Guru Rinpoche meditated and hid many treasures.[19]
  • Zhabjethang Lhakhang, a sacred plain where Guru Rinpoche and his consort Tashi Khyidren meditated and left their footprints. Later, a Lhakhang was built by Terton Dorji Lingpa in the 14th century.[20]
  • Kunzangdrak Monastery, a cliff where Pema Lingpa saw Kuntu Zangpo, one of the Primordial Buddhas while gazing up from his birthplace Chel and built a monastery in 1488.[21]
  • Thowadra Monastery, a high cliff of Guru Rinpoche where a wooden Garuda was left after exiling Khikha Rathoe from Khenpajong valley. The sacred site was founded by Mandarava.[22]

Notable Towns

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Bumthang also contains several notable towns:

Annual Jakar Tshechus:

  • Mid October (every year)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  2. ^ a b "Chiwogs in Bumthang" (PDF). Election Commission, Government of Bhutan. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
  3. ^ "ichLinks". www.ichlinks.com. Retrieved 2024-10-05.
  4. ^ Donohue, Mark (2021). "Language and dialect relations in Bumthang". Himalayan Linguistics. 19 (3). doi:10.5070/H919247065. ISSN 1544-7502.
  5. ^ Schicklgruber, Christian (1998). Françoise Pommaret-Imaeda (ed.). Bhutan: Mountain Fortress of the Gods. Shambhala. pp. 50, 53. ISBN 978-0-906026-44-1.
  6. ^ van Driem, George (2007). "Endangered Languages of Bhutan and Sikkim: East Bodish Languages". In Moseley, Christopher (ed.). Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages. Routledge. p. 295. ISBN 978-0-7007-1197-0.
  7. ^ van Driem, George (2007). Matthias Brenzinger (ed.). Language diversity endangered. Trends in linguistics: Studies and monographs, Mouton Reader. Vol. 181. Walter de Gruyter. p. 312. ISBN 978-3-11-017050-4.
  8. ^ "Bumthangkha". Ethnologue Online. Dallas: SIL International. 2006. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
  9. ^ Moseley, Christopher (2007). Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages. Curzon language family series. Psychology Press. pp. 314, 324. ISBN 978-0-7007-1197-0.
  10. ^ "Brokkat". Ethnologue Online. Dallas: SIL International. 2006. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
  11. ^ van Driem, George L. (1993). "Language Policy in Bhutan". London: SOAS. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
  12. ^ "Parks of Bhutan". Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation online. Bhutan Trust Fund. Archived from the original on 2011-07-02. Retrieved 2011-03-26.
  13. ^ "Mebar Tsho, the Burning Lake where Pema Lingpa discovered Hidden Treasures". bhutanpilgrimage.com. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
  14. ^ "Kurjey, a Cave where Guru Rinpoche left his Body Impression". bhutanpilgrimage.com. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
  15. ^ "Jambay Lhakhang, one of the Oldest Temples in Bhutan founded in 659 CE". bhutanpilgrimage.com. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
  16. ^ "Dra Zhi, the Four Great Meditation Cliffs of Guru Rinpoche in Bumthang". bhutanpilgrimage.com. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
  17. ^ "Shugdra, a Cliff where Guru meditated in the form of Blood Drinking Wrathful Padma". bhutanpilgrimage.com. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
  18. ^ "Choedrak, One of the Four Sacred Meditation Cliffs of Guru Rinpoche in Bumthang". bhutanpilgrimage.com. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
  19. ^ "Ta Rimochen, a Cliff with an Impression of Tiger's Stripes". bhutanpilgrimage.com. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
  20. ^ "Zhabjethang, the Plain where Guru Rinpoche Meditated and left His Footprint". bhutanpilgrimage.com. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
  21. ^ "Kunzangdra, a Cliff where Pema Lingpa saw Kuntu Zangpo, one of the Primordial Buddhas". bhutanpilgrimage.com. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
  22. ^ "Thowadra, a High Cliff where Guru Rinpoche left a Wooden Garuda". bhutanpilgrimage.com. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
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