Bhutan celebrates coronation of young new king

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

THIMPHU, Bhutan (AP) — Tradition in this Buddhist Himalayan kingdom says that the people pay homage to a new king by lining up with the gift of a white scarf. Their new monarch, however, was having none of it.

Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, a Western-educated bachelor with the good looks of a young Elvis and an easy charm, came down from his throne to his people after a ceremony Thursday that saw him become Bhutan's first king since its transformation to democracy.

(snip)

The public greeting followed the coronation, an elaborate display of pageantry, mingled with ancient Buddhist rites that saw King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, 52, the much-loved monarch, formalize his abdication and place the Raven Crown on the head of his 28-year-old son.

The ceremony, which took place at the precise hour — 8:31 a.m. — appointed by astrologers, was the last step in a process that saw the elder Wangchuck reform the isolated Himalayan nation from a closed-off absolute monarchy to a democracy with his heir at the helm.



Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i6DM9zm4HQAMv6uwnzpC0i5POypQD949K14O0

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The article goes on to say that although he is king, he can be impeached by the parliament. Interesting!

[Strawman]

1. Bet Palin would think Bhutan was an Iraqi city or something.

[poetsdream]

2. Way Cool

Totally cool! I like how they have a National Happiness Index. Guess we'd pretty low on that measurement...

Also, I like how precisely the ritual was timed. It seems like an event where everyone was engaged and in celebration.

[Indenturedebtor]

4. Old school Numerology.. had no idea that this is still practiced by a govt

Badass!

Bhutan sounds like a really groovy place baby yeah!

[Posteritatis]

3. Transitions...

A step at a time's probably the best way to do this sort of thing. We've seen what happens when democracies are imposed (and that's before getting into how undemocratic that can get). If these guys want to move towards democracy but also want to be careful about how they do it, all the more power to them.

(And I admit I love the concept of Gross National Happiness.)

[Shanti Mama]

5. Folks, there is more to Bhutan than peace and happiness. There is a dark side.

From Wikipedia: "In the 1980s, in order to strengthen Bhutan’s identity as a nation, the "one nation, one people" campaign was started to foster greater integration of the peripheral ethnic and cultural groups into mainstream Bhutanese society. The age-old code of conduct, known as Driglam namzha, and usage of the official national language, Dzongkha, was promoted. At around the same time, a nationwide census revealed a large population of Nepali origin in southern Bhutan."

There is disagreement about how those of Nepali origin came to be in Bhutan. I've been told by Nepalis still in Bhutan that about 150 years ago Bhutan sent an invitation to all Nepalis, inviting them to move to Bhutan and do the labor that the Bhutanese did not want to do. The Bhutanese government claims the vast majority are illegal immigrants. They were expelled and for the past 20 years approximately 80,000 people who believe they are Bhutanese nationals of Nepali descent have lived in refugee camps in Nepal. The US recently agreed to take in 70K in a resettlement program. Others are going in small numbers to Scandinavian countries and the rest of Europe. It is expected that not all will accept relocation as they insist on repatriation. It has gotten pretty ugly at times and is one of the best kept secrets of international refugee situations.

[David__77]

6. That's why there's an insurgency like there was in Nepal.

I'm fairly sure within 5 years the Bhutanese Maoists will topple the Bhutan monarch like happened in Nepal. We will see.