Top: offering cups sit beneath a mural of the Buddha in the altar room of the villageâs main administration building. Beside them
hangs a white welcome scarf. Above: a small prayer drum and a rolled painting join the vibrant wall decorations which depict
Buddhist symbols stories and iconography. Opposite: a larger prayer drum painted rafters and pink curtains dominate the room
Bhutanese rural architecture follows a standard pattern
with new farmhouses built on the ruins of the old and
mostly looking southeast. Certain features are therefore
steeped in history. Though many sprang up around the
dzongs (Buddhist temples-cum-fortified-strongholds) that
were founded in the 17th century others go even further
back. Rectangular whitewashed and substantially built on
two or three floors they tend to look bigger than they are
their projecting roofs of split pine adding to the illusion.
The carved woodwork around the window frames and
the balustrade of the veranda that runs the length of the
building is intricately detailed and finely painted (or fres-
coed in the grander houses). Many still rely on a tradition-
al system of interlocking beams that reinforce themselves
one against the other. Floorboards are conspicuously wide
as timber is readily available from well-managed forests.
The ground floor provides storage for grain and shel-
ter for livestock. On the whitewashed walls are painted
religious symbols of protection often of the garuda. When
this half-man half-bird flaps its wings it creates storm-
force winds that could destroy even the strongest timber-
framed house so it must be propitiated.
A ladder leads up to the middle floor where a basic and
functional kitchen is located. Old ranges have not been dis-
posed of but on their flat iron tops balance modern hobs.
Local food is similarly uncomplicated: strips of pork fat
dried yakâs cheese on a string porridges and rice all un-
varyingly enlivened with chilli. Gastronomic tourism is un-
likely to bother Bhutan any time soon. âWhat I would doâ
said Walker one evening sotto voce âfor a piece of broccoli.â
The kitchen leads into an eating area and then a central
space off which are further communal rooms. Here too is
the heart of Bhutanese life the prayer room. Daily rituals
are followed in much the same way since a guru strapped
himself to the rump of a flying tiger to found a lamasery on
an inhospitable ledge thereby bringing Buddhism to a re-
mote and ungodly kingdom. Guests and family members
may also sleep in the prayer room hence a stockpile of mat-
tresses and blankets. (The main sleeping areas would be
found on the second floor customarily along side a weaving
room and with storage space in the eaves.)
In a country awash with colour it is the prayer room
that provides it most vividly in the domestic setting as if
the other rooms were kept deliberately spartan and low-key
to allow these walls to explode with life. Flower motifs are
stencilled or painted onto the walls in vivid elaborate and
delicately worked colours to mimic as far as possible the
interior of a temple. From the painted wooden rafters and
ceiling joists hang extravagantly woven curtains. Here
explains Walker is âthe decorative simplicity that sums up
the Bhutanese and their extraordinary aesthetic sense.
What was really touching during our trip was that they saw
us making fashion pictures and understood it not as an
intrusion but as a celebration of Bhutanâs natural beauty.â
As Elson put it: âThe Bhutanese appear an accepting
society. They do not seem fazed by a wild redhead ban-
shee dancing on the hillside as the sun goes downâ $