Buddhist Rituals in Bhutan

Rituals involving water, butter lamps, incense, rice, and cake offerings are important, daily practices in homes and religious communities throughout Bhutan. Photo by Preston Scott

Three days before the Paro tsechu (festival), a monk creates a mandala by adding colored sand a few grains at a time until he completes the design. Photo by John Berthold

Many Buddhist rituals are practiced by monastic communities and in homes throughout Bhutan. People burn incense daily to invoke local protective deities. Tormas (ritual cakes made from barley flour and hardened butter) may reference particular deities or may be used as ritual offerings to specific deities. The dzoe, or “spirit catcher,” is made from twigs, straw, colored threads, and feathers that are woven into a web to attract and entangle malevolent spirits, which can be discarded later.

Mandalas are used in rituals to aid visualization. They represent spiritual landscapes that are designed according to strict traditional precepts. They can be painted onto paper or walls, incorporated into building designs, or even made of sand.

Many ritual items come from everyday life, including water, food (packaged cakes and cookies), and natural materials collected from the environment.

Source

folklife.si.edu