Paro Festival is one of the busiest festival in Bhutan. The unfolding of the silk Thangka – which is so large that it covers the face of the building -is considered one of the most sacred blessings in the whole of Bhutan. The ‘Thangka’ is a religious picture scroll known as a Thongdroel and it is exhibited for a few hours, at day break of the final day of the festival, enabling the people to obtain its blessing. This holy scroll ‘confers liberation by the mere sight of it’ (the meaning of the word ‘thongdroel’ in Bhutanese). This festival is held once a year so it is also the time to for Bhutanese to celebrate with their relatives and friends.
The ‘Tsechus’ are Buddhist religious festivals where masked dances depicting events from the life of Padmasambhava, the eighth century Nyingmapa Buddhist teacher (second to Buddha), and stories of other saints are staged. In Bhutan, Padmasambhava is known as ‘Guru Rimpoche’. The dances are performed by trained monks and laymen wearing costumes that depict the creatures that you can expect to meet after death. Besides attending the Paro Festival and sightseeing in the Paro valley, this tour will also take you to Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, and the Punakha and Wangdi valleys. Driving over the 3000mts scenic Dochu-la pass offers you fantastic views of the mountain ranges of the eastern Himalayas.