right A statue of Hanuman at
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple
in Tamil Nadu, India. Hanuman
is believed to protect against
rakshahas (demons)left The image of Hanuman
tearing open his heart is
believed to be where devotees
saw an image of Rama and Sita
in his heart“The Land of the Thunder Dragon”, Bhutan is the last
great Himalayan kingdom. All around it, monarchies
have fallen, but somehow, the tiny Kingdom of Bhutan
has survived.
When you start to dig, however, you realise that
this should come as no surprise. Bhutan’s mountainous
landscape, and the fortresses and dzongs (fortified
monasteries) within them, have historically been
considered impregnable. The Bhutanese have been
largely left to themselves. Recognising the benefits
of good relations with their neighbours, however,
Bhutan’s kings have taken pragmatic approaches.
They worked hard to unite their political enemies
within the country, signed a subsidiary alliance with
The Land of the Thunder Dragon
{ bhutan }
the British to keep control of everything but their
foreign affairs, and looked outside Bhutan to see what
forms of government worked best in the modern world.
It was the king of Bhutan, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck,
who took the initiative and set up Bhutan’s National
Assembly in 1953. He created a royal advisory council
and a cabinet. When his son inherited the throne in the
1970s, he continued his father’s reformist tendencies.
Today, Bhutan is a constitutional monarchy.
Almost all of the king’s powers have been transferred
to the Council of Cabinet Ministers, and the National
Assembly has the right to impeach him. Bhutan’s
current king, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck,
is one of the youngest monarchs in the world. He, like
his father and grandfather before him, is a reformer,
genuinely well liked by his people, and is at pains to
ensure they are all beneficiaries of his national policy
of Gross National Happiness.“I will follow in my father’s footsteps. My father set the bar very high.
He was a wonderful leader”- King Jigme Khesar Namg yel Wangchuck
IMAGE © YELLOW.BTheritage