Bhutan
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History of Bhutan
The
name Bhutan appears to drive from the ancient Indian Bhotanta which means end
of the land of the Bhots.Bhot was the Sanskrit for Tibetans,thus Bhutan could
mean the end of the land of Tibet. It could also extend from the Sanskrit
word Bhu’uttan or high land.No one seens to be sure.Ancient Tibetan writes
called their fertile neighbour Lho Mon on Mon Yul, paradish of the South or
Land of the Monps. The Bhutanese themselves refer to their country as Druk Yul
or the Land of the peaceful Dragon. Druk meaning dragon and extending from the
predominant Drukpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.Bhutan’s history parallels
Buddhism’s following in the Himalayas and to properly understand Bhuttan’s
history one also needs to understand religion. Mystery surrounds Bhutan’s
distant past,as books and papers were and at lost in consecutive fires at the
national printing works and at punakaha Dzong in 1828 and 1832.And then a massive
earthquake in 1896 and a fire in paro Dzong destroyed all but a few of the records
that outlasted the first disasters. Despite these setbacks, enough reliable
information has been recorded to piece together a history which sets apart this
small kingdom from others in its vicinity.
Bhuttan was not unified under a central authority until the 17th century,however,
the religious presence in the country had been acting as aspiritual cohesion
for many years. It was in 747 AD that padam Sambhava who is known as Guru Rimpoche
made his legendary trip from Tibet across the mountains flying on a tigress’s
back. He arrived in the paro Valley at Takstang Lakhang, Tiger’s Nest.
A monastery now perches precariously on the cliff’s face as a permanent
memory to his name. Guru Rimpoche is the father of the Tantric strain
of Mahayana Buddism practiced in Bhuttan. His eight manifestations are worshipped
in temples throughout the kingdom and wherever he visited in the kingdom is
today a pilgrimage site highly revered by Bhutanese.Guru Rimpoche is not only
recognized as the father of the Nyingaapa religious schools but he is also considered
to be the second Buddha.
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