Prayer wheel
From the 19th till the 23rd of February there was a National holiday celebrating the start of the Bhutanese calendar year and the celebration of the 5th King Jigme Gyser Namgyel Wangchuck birth anniversary on 21st of February. During this time, I visited Paro Dzong where wearing the national dress of Bhutan is required: a “Kira” for ladies and a “Gho” for gents.
The picture above shows two friends, Rajesh and Sherub, and me at a prayer wheel. To make a prayer, we walked three times whilst turning the wheel in a clockwise direction. There are many places such as temples and white block-shaped monuments called “Chorten” where the Bhutanese walk clockwise around them to make a prayer and good luck. The reason for walking in a clockwise direction is because the scriptures preaching the teaching of the Bhudda are written from left to right. I have also learnt that the way to make a prayer is to pray for others rather than yourself. This is because if you pray for those who are important to you, good will come around to you too. This shows to me how the culture of Bhuddism in Bhutan is very collective and embraces the notion of caring for others.