monks, monks, monks (part 2)

one day, we came upon a housing-blessing ceremony, called a lakh, which is the indian word for 100,000, because the monks recite their blessing 100,000 times. they were fine with our being in there, so eleven of us spent approximately 40 minutes in these cramped rooms, shooting away happily. apparently, we’re not supposed to reproduce the text on the scrolls, so if you’re looking at these photos, you should probably watch out for falling pianos or dengue-bearing mosquitos.

monks, monks, monks (part 1)

bhutan is a buddhist country, and the culture is inextricably linked with the religion. there are monks everywhere; many boys are educated in monasteries; even the district government offices are located in monasteries.  going in, it is tempting to imagine that the monks are saintly …

… aloof …

… and mysterious …

… but the truth is that a lot of them are just kids.

   

next: monks, monks, monks (part 2).