NATIONAL MUSEUM OF BHUTAN, PARO,TA DZONG Bhutan

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF BHUTAN, PARO,TADZONG Bhutan is situated between autonomous region of Tibet , China to the north and India with states of sikkim to west , Arunachal Pradesh to the east , and West Bengal and Assam to the south. Located on the slopes of eastern Himalyas , Bhutan rises from 200 m in the southern foothills to more than 7000 m in the northern regions , and offers great span of both geographical and climate diversity and offers natural habitat to various species of flora and fauna.

Originally built in 1649 as a watchtower , Paro Ta Dzong was built by La Ngoenpa Tenzin Drugdra , the first governer of Paro. It was officially opened in 1968 with a modest collections of art objects donated by royal family members. The museum now provides safe heaven for thousands of artistic , cultural and anthropological artifacts.

It has various points of interest :

Permanent Mask Exhibition : The mask dances of Bhutan trace their origin from Vajrayana Buddhist traditions with Mahayanist motivation of pure compassion. Masks are used in religious festivals called Tshechus or tenth day of Bhutanese lunar calendar.

Thangka Gallery: They are traditional paintings produced in scroll format, which is easily portable , are often commitioned as donations from temple and shrines. They reflect religious and artistic traditions throughout Himalyan region.

Heritage Gallery: It offers works of art that has been preserved through centuries and includes some rare masterpieces made in Bhutan , types of arms and armour and some unusual artifacts such as precious horse egg and horse horn.

Natural History Gallery: Wide array of flora and fauna of Bhutan including specimens find place in this part of museum. Only a few animals among thousands are on display due to lack of space.

Some of the highlights of National museum includes – Illustrated Buddhist text , Arrows of Jigme Namgyal (Father of first king) , Traditional water timer , Snow leopard , Iron chain crafted by Saint Thangtong Gyalpo and Buddha Field.

General Information on National Museum of Bhutan

Open : Throughout the week.

Summer : 9 AM to 5 PM

Winter : 9 AM to 4 PM

Closed on Govt. holidays.

I would recommend this museum to all people visiting Bhutan.

As contributed by Mr. Vinod

P.S- Some of the information has been gathered from Wikipedia, brochure of the National Museum of Bhutan