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Marriage of a Lifetime

Ayushman Dutta gives a first hand report on the royal wedding of the Fifth Druk Gyalpo King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk and Ashi Jetsun Pema.

Even before the marriage season had kicked in this year, I had made a silent resolve to attend as many wedding celebrations as possible. Before you dismiss me as some kind of a wedding freak or someone who loves to gorge on free food, let me explain. Over the last few years, I have been missing most of the weddings of my near and dear ones, primarily on account of my somewhat erratic work schedule. However, I had begun to increasingly get the feeling that things needed to change. And as I began this autumn on a positive note gorging on Dimaru pat long pha-kok’han (pork cooked in pithaguri and dimaru leaves) at my friend Bipul Terang’s house during his wedding, soaking in the warm atmosphere of joy and happiness of all those around in his ancestral village, my resolution to this effect only deepened.

In his book The Alchemist, Brazilian author Paulo Coelho had written: “When you really want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” I have always believed in this statement and with four marriages down by the beginning of October, I was making good progress. The best, however, was yet to come. One fine day, my editor suddenly called me to his office and asked me to make a trip to Bhutan on a special assignment. While a trip to the cool environs of the “land of the thunder-dragon” was enough to bring a smile to my face, the nature of the assignment made me even happier. You guessed it right – it was the much hyped royal wedding of Bhutan.

For me, especially taking into account the resolution I had made, the world ‘royal wedding’ was enough to bring a smile to my face. But it was only when I started thinking about the approaching assignment that the significance of the entire event really sank in.

Bhutan is a very tiny country but it is also the last abode for monarchy in the Himalayas. Following the much talked about wedding of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton earlier this year, the entire focus of the global community had shifted to Bhutan this time around for the marriage of the Fifth Druk Gyalpo – the “peoples’ King” of the Himalayas who had decided to marry his ‘commoner’ girlfriend of three years, the beautiful 21 year old Ashi Jetsun Pema.

To provide a brief insight into his background, the 31-year old King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk is the fifth descendent of the Wangchuk dynasty that has completed 104 years of rule in Bhutan. Having done his schooling in Bhutan, he pursued his higher studies in the US and the UK, before attending the National Defence College in New Delhi. He ascended the throne after his father the Fourth Druk Gyalpo abdicated it in 2006. The announcement of his marriage is said to have broken the hearts of many of his admirers as the “Prince Charming” was once even mobbed by a group of girls during a trip to Thailand.

A keen and accomplished photographer, King Jigme Khesar has been personally overseeing the transition of Bhutan into a democracy. He took it upon himself to meet the people and discuss the draft constitution and the introduction of parliamentary democracy in 2008. Among his major accomplishments, mention can be made of his efforts to launch the National Cadastral Resurvey to settle the long standing land issues affecting every Bhutanese, especially the farmers.

So accordingly on the morning of October 12th, I found myself on board the Trivandrum express along with my colleague Rajib Bhattacherjee and cameraman Arup Deka en route to Thimpu to attend the King’s wedding. Having got down at Alipur Duar staton in West Bengal, we took a taxi to the Bhutan border at Phuntsholing, a one and half hour drive away.

With the tiny monarchy gearing itself up to host such a historic occasion, occasional ruffles are bound to take place. A couple of nights before the wedding, two minor IED explosions were triggered in Bhutanese territory at Phuntsholing. While nobody got hurt, the blasts did carry the wedding fervour and security checks to an altogether new high. After a long and tedious round of security clearance, we were finally given permission to enter Bhutan.

By the time we reached Thimpu, it was already past 11 pm. A liason officer from the Bhutan government’s communication department was waiting for us at Garuda Inn – our home for the next three days and we quickly completed checking in. Dead tired, it felt great to be able to keep our bags down for a while and rest our tired limbs. The feeling of joy, however, was short lived as our liasion officer informed us that the bus, which would take us to Punakha for the wedding, would reach the hotel by 2 in the morning – i.e. just two and half hours later!

So, refreshed with less than two hours of sleep, we found ourselves on a bus to Punakha, seated amongst a horde of journalists from Japan and Thailand. The drive to Punakha is said to be one of the most beautiful drives in the world, providing a breathtaking view of nature’s bounty that has been blessed on Bhutan. But dead tired at 2 am in the morning, I am not surprised that I hardly remember anything beautiful about that trip – something that I seriously regret now.

A town that is inextricably linked to some of the most momentous events in Bhutan’s history, Punakha deserves its reputation as one of the most beautiful and significant regions at the heart of Bhutanese culture. The district, levelling from 1300 metres at the valley floor and which rises to almost 3000 metres around Dochhula pass, served as the capital of Bhutan from 1637 till 1907. The 1st National Assembly of Bhutan was held in this township.

The announcement of his marriage is said to have broken the hearts of many of his admirers as the “ Prince Charming” was once even mobbed by a group of girls during a trip to Thailand.

The marriage ceremony was solemnised amidst chanting of Buddhist hymns at the main dzong – the Dewa Chhen-Poi Phodrang (Palace of Great Happiness) – which is historically and culturally the root and symbol of unified Bhutan. By the time we reached the venue, we were quickly escorted along with 160 other foreign journalists to the roof of the smaller dzong which afforded a telescopic view of the entire wedding ceremony.

The royal wedding of King Jigme Khesar was solemnised in age-old Buddhist tradition ensuring that those who were present were witness to a marriage of their lifetime. The elaborate marriage ceremony began right before sun break with the initiation of the prayer of Zhabdrung dag-na-maat Macchan Lhakhang by His Holiness Je Khenpo, the head monastic preceptor. He was later joined by hundred other monks to offer the tshe-pa-mi prayers.

While the guests for the ceremony began assembling at the courtyard since 7 in the morning, the King was the first person to enter the dzong. The ceremonial hall, again, is strategically placed at the junction of two rivers – the Fo Chu (male river) and the Mo Chu (female river). Not surprisingly, the bride arrived to the Dzong by crossing the bridge over the Mo Chu river in a hundred member strong procession.

Just for the record, this marriage was the second most momentous occasion in the history of Bhutan and the entire ceremony was aired live by the Bhutan Broadcasting Service TV, resulting in the majority of the seven lakh population of the dragon country remaining glued to their television sets at home. And for all those who had come to see the wedding for themselves, they had to be content with waiting outside the gates as the marriage ceremony is essentially a very private one.

However, inside the dzong, the fervour was on a different level altogether. The pitch of the excitement that this wedding has been building all these days reached its crescendo when the King, wearing the raven crown, came down from his golden throne in front of a huge statue of Buddha to place a smaller, silk brocade crown upon the head of his bride. The monks chanted in celebration as she took up her seat beside him as the new Queen of the country.

The next day, the King and his Queen came back to Thimpu, which had received a facelift on account of the royal wedding. While huge wall-hanging posters, banners and flags displaying the King and his wife were seen adorning all the major buildings and government offices, municipal workers and fire department officials were kept busy cleaning the main roads with water hoses and brooms. Many of the residents of Thimpu had set up stalls equipped with an array of items of religious and spiritual significance according to Buddhist tradition, like sweets, chocolates, grain, liquor, milk, etc, to welcome their new king.

Although most people were waiting since early morning to catch a glimpse of their King, it was only late in the evening that the King’s entourage finally entered the main city. The King was dressed in a white Taghechoe and the Queen wore a beautiful white Kishuthara with a green Tego. Holding hands as their moved through the main thoroughfare, the royal couple patiently received the wishes of all those who had gathered.

October 15th marked the third day of the marriage ceremony and also its conclusion. A day-long entertainment programme was arranged at the local stadium to commemorate the occasion. Thousands of people from all across the globe had gathered in the stadium to watch the King address the people along with his new Queen and also to partake of the entertainment program. The highlight of the third day was the arrival of the royal Chipdrel, which comprised hundreds of colourfully dressed monks, flag-bearers, drummers and pipers. The King, who was escorted by his government officers and other members of the royal family, entered the stadium and marked the beginning of the celebrations by unveiling the Thongdrel – a huge wall-hanging measuring 36 metres in height and 27 metres in width – to thundering applause from the crowd. Later on, thanking the people for their overwhelming support to his marriage, he kissed his new bride twice in public – much to the delight of all those present.

The cultural evening marked the conclusion of the royal wedding and with it our trip to Bhutan also drew to a close. While the drive back down the hills was markedly quiet, we all carried with us a treasure trove of memories to cherish and recollect for the rest of our lives.

Ayushman Dutta