Dress:
Similar to the Tibetan or Ladakhi dress, Bhutanese gho (for men) is a knee length one-piece robe tied with a sash at the waist; the lower part of the dress resembles the Scottish kilt, and kira (for women) is a one-piece cloth held with hooks from shoulders and tied at the waist with a sash, it flows down to the ankle.
For a small country surrounded by giant neighbors, the costumes were seen to be attributes that clearly set Bhutan apart from the rest of the region and gave the inhabitants a Bhutanese identity. Gho and kira gained prominence among other costumes. This national symbol withstood the concern of being inadvertently discarded along Bhutan's path toward modernization. However, with the introduction of half kira and jacket-like tego, the real Bhutanese costumes are under a serious threat!
Dishes:
Bhutan boasts about variety of indigenous dishes ranging from the northern nomad’s puta to the hot spices of the southern foothills. However, one dominant dish in most of a Bhutanese household is the ubiquitous ema datshi. Although Bhutan do not have a proper organization where one can learn the art of preparing Bhutanese dishes, most of the Bhutanese households, especially in the villages would know how to prepare the rare Bhutanese dishes. And almost every Bhutanese can dish out a simple yet delicious ema datshi. Tarayana Foundation gives a platform to the people to portray and sell their region’s peculiar dishes.
Khulay, a pancake made from buckwheat flour, is common dish in Bumthang
Games:
Archery is Bhutan’s national sport, a sport associated with fun and merry making. Generally, the mood in Bhutan is festive after the harvest season and archery is one of the common fun activities around this time. Villages would echo happiness and farmers would beam in excitement. Usually, several two-day matches are played through the late autumn and winter months within the village or between neighboring villages. Men would look stern as they take full aim at the target to please the onlookers, especially the dainty village damsels. Children would take extra joy and pride when their fathers or brothers find the target. It is an occasion filled with lots of food and drink, fun and laughter, contentment and happiness. Songs chorus to cheers and jeers. But of late it is facing a stiff battle against modernization. With the entry of American-made compound bows and arrows, the indigenous kit is losing popularity fast. Bhutan Archery Federation, in its quest to preserve and promote the traditional game organise an archery tournament strictly using traditional bows and arrows.
Degor, tsoktsom and jigdhom are some other indigenous Bhutanese games; they are utterly cheap, convenient to play and are mostly popular with the cowherds.
