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| Photo Courtesy: Internet |
For a tiny landlocked country like Bhutan, preservation of its rich
cultural heritage is important for its identity and sovereignty. It is
like a soul that keeps the nation breathing forever. Knowing culture’s
critical significance to the very survival as a nation state, Bhutan
has adopted preservation and promotion of culture as one of the pillars
of GNH, and consequently many initiatives are in place for the upkeep
of our distinct cultural heritage.
Meet a foreigner, and one common question that he or she will ask
will be undeniably about our culture. Irrespective of how we value or
nurture our culture, we conceitedly give every positive detail on our
religion, music, dress, festivals, and sports. Perhaps, most of us
involuntarily exaggerate with excitement to convince the guest that we
have a rich and unique cultural heritage. As such, it is obvious that
deep in our mind, it is everybody’s vision to see our distinctive
culture and heritage live forever.
However, it seems that our deeds are dictated by the materialistic
mind. For wealth and fame, people are seen intrepidly playing with the
culture, which has remained untouched for centuries. Our culture seemed
to be more sold out than preserved!
For instance, cultural exchanges are common. The government
contentedly finds platforms to perform our sacred mask dances and
unique folk dances overseas. It is obvious that the intent of such an
exchange is to promote our rich and diverse cultural heritage to the
outside world, but at the cost of the significance of some scared mask
dances.
Private companies, especially tourist resorts, arrange mask dances
on their entertainment stage to amuse their customers. And we
understand that it is more for the benefit of their own business. I
doubt if the complex steps are taken care of or undermined to save pain
and time.
And lately, one of the children’s talent shows is also advertised
with Atsara as an anchor, likely to be arranged to attract more
viewers. Some music bravely integrated some religious tune as an
interlude, and some architecture creatively used the shape of religious
instruments as door handles.
Most frighteningly, even some religious festivals are also said to
be brought before schedule or postponed as per the demand and
convenience of tourists, compromising the significance of the
auspicious dates. The sacret song of Aum Jomo: Amo Cheley, which is
prohibited even to be hummed except during a particular ceremony, is
out in mass production.
One perfect example of how we are bent on achieving fame is that we
see more and more lhakhangs, mani and chortens (religious stupas)
constructed alongside the highways. The old religious monuments
situated in the vicinity of towns get ample sponsors who renovate them
beautifully. Conversely, in the far-flung places, many scared
lhakhangs, manis and chortens are on the verge of collapse, demanding
an urgent attention. If we are genuinely devoted to our sublime
religion, we would directly prefer the significance of the monument and
place, over wealth and fame that our deeds fetch.
Consider the declining number of gomchens in the villages and the
growing number in the towns. We cannot complain against them for going
for wealth when the most learned khenpos are after dollars. The only
fear is that very soon there might not be any gomchen left to conduct
religious rituals and ceremonies in the villages.
Every mask dance bears some important significance and thus is
prohibited from being performed beyond prescribed place and date. When
the blessing of our scared religion declines, we cannot hope for better.
We need to understand the nature of our cultural heritage that we
aim to deal with. Otherwise, gradually we will lose the significance of
our distinctive culture just for some amount of money. I wish soon
there will be rules monitoring our culture.
Contributed to Bhutanobserver
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