Mountain Echoes literary festival held in Bhutan

Photo: Jean-Marie Hullot via Flickr, CC-BY-SA license.)

Bhutan, known as the Land of the Thunder Dragon, recently held its third annual literary festival, Mountain Echoes, from May 20 — 26. The gathering of authors and musicians in this idyllic Buddhist kingdom opened with a lamp-lighting ceremony, important to both Hindus and Buddhists alike. The festival provided "a platform for authors from India and Bhutan to get together and engage in a cultural dialogue and understand Indian and Bhutanese literature in all its myriad forms and dimensions."

Participants and attendees this year included the Queen Mother of Bhutan, Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, the poet Gulzar, and many others. Several new books were introduced at the festival, including Bhutan: Through the Lens of a King, a book that showcases photographs by Bhutan's 5th king Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, and When Loss Is Gain by Pavan K. Varma, "a story set in contemporary India and Bhutan that deals with life, disillusionment, death, the rational, and the spiritual."

Speaking on the final day, Dr. Karma Phuntsho, a Bhutanese scholar, discussed the need to preserve Bhutan's unique perspective on happiness, remarking, "The Buddhist masters have taught us that you have the best resource for happiness within you, and that's your mind."

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