Dramtoe women brave life without spouses

Inside her rickety and smoky hut, occasionally rubbing her teary eyes, Jampem Doya peels potatoes for dinner. It is only 5pm. At 42, the Lhop woman looks way beyond her age. She is sick and tired. But dinner must be cooked fast. Her three children are home from school and done with fetching water from …

Lhop – One of Bhutan’s least known ethnic group

The controversial name The Director of CAPSCD and NIE (Paro), Jagar Dorji, has studied one of Bhutan's least known ethnic group, the Lhops of the Am Mo Chhu valley. Excerpts from his research paper presented at a colloquium in Thimphu this week is reproduced below. Kind and tolerant the later settlers called the Lhops daya, …

Keeping the Rombu (the ultimate road to Gahala) tradition alive

For the Lhops (Doyaps) of Lhotokuchu Jigme and Lhotokuchu Singye, Dorokha, life is frozen in time through an indigenous and unique culture of entombing their dead in their own lands. The residents say that the tombs known as the Rombu hold significant value in their lives. Left as a tradition to the descendants, Lhops say …

Lhop struggle to save their traditional songs

Lhops have a song about a black-necked crane and a hoopoe. It compares the birds, about the crane’s intelligence and elegance, and about the hoopoe’s stupidity. Kunti Doya, 58, from Lhotokuchu Jigme, is effortless with this song. Today, she has taken time out from her dairy works to sing the song. Sitting besides her younger …

The Lhop widows who keep their culture alive

Sangay Puda rarely smiles. The 33-year-old Lhop lost her husband three years ago, leaving her with a 10-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter. Today, a drizzle has kept her away from her cardamom field and she has come to her uncle’s shop. A bright pearl necklace glows under her neckline, complementing her pink top. It …