The ancient dances of the Himalayan region have been faithfully preserved in Bhutan since the ages. The extraordinary grace and colour of these energetic, dramatic dances can be etched in the memories of the travelers for a lifetime. Folk songs and dances of the Kingdom are rich and varied. The Bhutanese are a musical people. Folk songs of the itinerant minstrel, the low chanting of the monks, the sound of long horns echoing across the valley, lively processions, scared dances and ancient folk dramas re- enacted, are all a part of rich Bhutanese musical legacy.
Bhutan
Hand – loomed fabrics have been integral to Bhutanese culture for centuries and remain the country’s most distinctive art form. Everyday articles such as clothing, study wrappers for bundled goods and covers for cushions are still often stitched from colourful cloth woven at home. Taxes, too, were once paid in cloth, each region contributing its own speciality: woollen cloth came from the colder valleys: silk cloth from the temperate east: and cotton came from the colder cloths from the tropical south. Cloth taxes generally took the form of simply decorated, unstitched lengths from the loom and were collected at a near by Dzong. Over the course of the year, the authorities would distribute the loom lengths, for example, as annual ‘Payment’ to monastic and civil officials and to monasteries. Recipients would in turn stitch the yards of cloth into useful forms- sitting mats for monks, alter coverings, the backing of religious picture and for clothing.
Atraditional bhutanese wedding ceremony begins with choosing of an auspicious day for the event .Auspicious day for the wedding is choosen based on the birth year of the bride and groom by respected high Lama.
The traditional dress for Bhutanese men is the gho which is a knee -length robe tied at the waist by a fabric belt known as the keyra . Women wear an ankle-length dress known as the kira, secured by a woven keyra around the waist, and fastened at the shoulders with silver brooches called koma. A long-sleeved blouse, wonju is worn underneath the kira and a jacket called tego ,won on the outside.Tshoglam or the traditional footwear for both men and women is knee high silk boots with leather soles, but these are now worn only by men on festive occasions.