National Museum of Bhutan

...The Museum ==
Bhutan's National Museum is not located in the capital city of Thimphu, but in the second city of Paro. It's housed in a round building which started life as the watchtower for Paro Dzong, the fortress-monastery that sits below it on the hillside on the outskirts of Paro. It was built in 1641 and converted into the National Museum in 1968. For most people taking a tour of Bhutan, the museum would be visited on the same day as ...
...a Visit? ==
The National Museum is a very manageable size and offers a little bit of lots of different things. Unless you are fascinated by Buddhist art, you might want to pick up pace as you pass wall after wall of thankas (weird religious horoscope-like paintings), certainly our guide wanted to tell us a lot more than I had the patience to take in. The things you see here will also help you to understand many of the things you'll see later ... more

The Museum

Bhutan's National Museum is not located in the capital city of Thimphu, but in the second city of Paro. It's housed in a round building which started life as the watchtower for Paro Dzong, the fortress-monastery that sits below it on the hillside on the outskirts of Paro. It was built in 1641 and converted into the National Museum in 1968. For most people taking a tour of Bhutan, the museum would be visited on the same day as the Dzong, but our first day in town was a Monday and the museum is closed that day. Consequently our visit was taken after climbing to see the Tiger's Nest monastery and before leaving for Thimphu.

Sitting in the car on the way to the museum I was feeling a bit nervous. My legs were aching from the ascent we'd just done and I didn't fancy the walk up the hillside to the Museum. Luckily I need not have worried because there's a road that goes all the way to the Museum entrance and my poor limbs were saved another climb.

Our Visit

It was mid afternoon when we arrived at the museum. Our guide bought the tickets and we headed in to the museum complex, passing some builders working on the place. The main museum building is a striking place - mostly painted white but with a broad brown-red stripe near the top which is characteristic of the Bhutanese style. The entrance is up a flight of steps and across a narrow bridge and once you are inside there are clear signposts to guide you round the building. I like a museum with a clear route because I always fear that I'll take a wrong turning and miss something spectacular.

From the top.....

The building has 6 floors and more than a dozen separate galleries each showing items under a different theme. Working downwards from the top, the sixth floor has a display of stamps (philately is a major income generator for Bhutan) and black and white photos of all the dzongs in the country. This enables you to get a sense of how the architects have each interpreted the basic dzong concept in subtly different ways. Keep in mind that all dzongs are built without architectural plans and without the use of nails! (And just in case you are wondering, I also find that pretty hard to believe). There are also Buddhist paintings on display on this floor.

On the fifth floor you'll find items from the 11th to 15th centuries including paintings, bronzes and carvings. The Fourth floor is for prehistoric and early historic items and also has a gallery with clothing and some armour. The third floor has daily household items such as food storage and preparation equipment and illustrates how the clothing has changed and evolved during the country's history. This section was particularly useful as it helped to make sense of a lot of items we saw during the rest of our trip. The second floor has objects associated with Buddhism as well as natural history artefacts, the first floor has cane woven items and agricultural tools and the ground floor has a varied bunch of old urns and armour.

The Royals

I can't recall which floor we were on when we found a special temporary exhibition on the royal family. Our visit was just a couple of weeks before the coronation of the Fifth King was due to take place and this photographic exhibition contained photographs covering the 100 years of Bhutanese monarchy. It's relatively rare for a monarchy to be entirely covered by the age of the camera and I found this really interesting. Some faces were becoming familiar very quickly. The Third King had a wife of stunning beauty who almost glows in every photo.

I'm exceptionally interested in the history of the Indian Independence movement and especially the role of the Nehru-Gandhi family in post independence India. For me it was fascinating to see the photographs of the Bhutanese royal family with the old British Viceroys and movers and shakers from the days of the Raj as well as multiple photos of the family with Jawaharlal Nehru, Mrs Gandhi, her sons and their wives. It was also interesting to see the Bhutanese royals with the late Benazir Bhutto and her father. All the big names of the Indian and Pakistani politics of the 20th century had a place in the exhibition. It was also endearing to see how 'human' the royal family seemed to be, playing football, meeting their people dressed in exactly the same clothes as everyone else.

Stop and Smell the Roses - or admire the view anyway

When you leave the museum, don't rush straight back to your car because there's lots to see from the vantage point up on the hill. Look to one side and the Paro airport is laid out beneath you. We watched the entire fleet of aircraft (both of them!) being put to bed for the night. To the other side you can see the whole of Paro town neatly laid out beside the river in a tidy grid pattern. It's hard to believe that the town which feels almost medieval when you walk through it, is barely 20 years old.

Worth a Visit?

The National Museum is a very manageable size and offers a little bit of lots of different things. Unless you are fascinated by Buddhist art, you might want to pick up pace as you pass wall after wall of thankas (weird religious horoscope-like paintings), certainly our guide wanted to tell us a lot more than I had the patience to take in. The things you see here will also help you to understand many of the things you'll see later in other museums, in monasteries and dzongs.

The price - and it's pretty irrelevant since it will undoubtedly be included in your tour cost - is about £2/$3 for international visitors, and a lot cheaper for locals. Additional facilities are a bit sparce - there's a small but not very exciting shop, some toilets nearby but they're definitely missing out on the 'tea shop tourism' (overpriced coffee and cake) that many European and American museums indulge in.
 

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