GRADUATION: Bhutanese style

I am sure many of you have been to umpteen graduations --
but never one like this!

Royal Thimphu College (RTC), where Rick works and we live, just had their 3rd graduating class: 307 young men and women who had completed three or four years at the college.
There was some pomp and circumstance, but mostly there was COLOR! and RITUAL!

Have you ever been to a graduation where:

There's an altar

                       
Where monks blow horns and beat symbols



Where ceremonial butter tea is offered

 Where chocolates are given to the audience

and where all the graduates wear their very best handwoven national dress: kiras for women and ghos for men:

It can take up to a year to weave some of these fabrics.  The colors are all bright and vibrant!  The traditional long scarf on the left shoulder is called a rachu and only worn on special occasions.

This is one of my favorite students, Sangay (name means buddha), in his traditional handwoven gho.  The white scarf is called a kabney and also is only worn on special occasions or when going into a monastery or dzong. 

The color of the kabney indicates your rank.  

There's no name for what I am wearing.  I designed it from a men's gho and had a local tailor make it for me.  I was a little concerned how this would be accepted at this traditional event, but was delighted to find that everyone liked it -- a fusion of east and west!  Orange and yellow are very popular colors here -- they are the colors of the flag and the king.  Orange is most certainly the new black here! Why wear black -- it's so boring!

Every big event like this has to have an Honorable Chief Guest.  Bhutan's Prime Minister was going to come but he had to make a trip to Japan instead (Japan gives Bhutan lots of machines, etc.) so we got the Home Minister instead.  As a govt. official he wears an orange kabney.  All the faculty is required to line up to greet him as he arrives.  Here are a few of the faculty, some of whom are wearing their traditional dress from India etc.

The students await the Minister as well:

The stage is lavish and colorful---a special brocade-covered chair for the honorable guest, a few lamas and monks to do the chanting and the multinational faculty make for a colorful lot.

Speeches are made, tea and chocolates are given, rice is thrown (religious reasons), chants are made.

Then, each student's name is called, they walk across the stage, make a deep traditional bow using their kabneys and rachus, get the photo with the Minister and exit---all done with applause, respect and solemnity.

 Last but not least, we all stand to sing the College song (Rick and I mumble through it)

And a Buddhist chant (now we really mumble through it)

Then finally we all move outside to the bright, thin, clean air of the Himalayas--to take a million photos and of course, to EAT.  The College feeds everyone--students, graduates, parents, families and chillips like me and Rick.

Here is a smaller group with their diplomas:

And because I can't resist, I sneak back into the auditorium to sit in the Chief Honorable Guests special chair---

But back to the food and dancing:

A monk enjoying the food (note his wonderful boots)

Traditional dancing (everyone here can do the traditional dances and they are oh so tolerant to teach us westerners)

I saved the best picture for last:

Here is Rick and all his women.  This lovely gaggle of amazing women are the ones he works with most closely in this data base development work.  They adore him...me, too!

We are off on a short trip tomorrow---to the Haa valley (three valleys over from ours) for their summer festival.  I promise to report the colorful and wonderful things we encounter there!