Bhutanese Culture Essay

Bhutan is a Buddhist country located on the Himalayan region between Tibet and India well known for its rich culture and traditions. Bhutan has preserved its culture that predates to the mid-17th century. Although colonization occurred around the world, Bhutan was able to protect its sovereignty because of its geographical isolation on the southern slopes of the eastern Himalaya. However, some aspects of Bhutanese culture has fallen apart due to globalization such as the Bhutanese architecture, culture and its national language.
Bhutanese architecture has significantly fallen apart due to globalization and has impacted the society as a whole. Bhutan had its unique style of constructing houses and the Dzongs (fortresses) built of rammed earth,

The government of Bhutan have set policies regarding how its citizens should dress in public formally called “Driglam Namzha.” ‘Drig’ means order, discipline, rules and customs and ‘Namzha’ means a system. This disciplinary system was introduced in 1990 which guides the citizens with some social etiquettes such as respecting one another, dressing formally, and promoting one’s language. Bhutan’s one of the unique identity is its national dress called kira for women and gho for men. It was introduced by the legendary Zhadrung Ngawang Namgyel (at whose feet one submits) in the 17th century to give Bhutanese a unique identity (Tourism council of Bhutan, n.d). Though, the national dress of Bhutan is still worn in the country, the western clothing style have greatly affected the Bhutanese dress code. Only a small percentage of elders wear the national dress in their daily life and the youth that is the greater percentage of the population wears only when required. The Bhutanese tradition of respecting one’s parents, elders and the higher authorities have deteriorated. The Bhutanese values are strongly influenced by outsider’s culture. The valued sacred places, faith in religion and the festivals are left without interest by the young citizens and are desecrated leading to the falling apart of its