Bhutan, the last Shangri-la

The early history of Bhutan abounds with narratives of the great deeds of buddhist masters. These stories often defy logic and modern interpretation but such was their sway over our pool of beliefs and customs that they became the very bedrock of Bhutanese culture and tradition. As we now try, increasingly, to retirieve whatever little knowledge about our past as we could from the dying tradition of oral story-telling, we find that there is so much we can learn about ourselves and also proudly narrate to the outside world.

One such story is about Gomkora-a silver of land and rock outcrop, on the bank of Dangmechu, in the far east of Bhutan where each year, beginning of the 8th day of the second month of the lunar calendar, every farmer leaves his spade an oxen behind to revel in the festivity of a mighty spiritual tradition.

"Go around Gomkora today for tomorrow may be too late", so goes a local song that entices devotees to visit Gomkora."

The place comes alive, once every year when people alive, once every year, when people all over eastern Bhutan descen upon the narrow valley, dressed in fineries, to partake in the festivity, to worship and to reunite themselves with their illustrious past.

The sanctity of the three-day religious festival equally draws the Dakpa tribe in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh (India) who endure days of travel on foot amid rugged environs with entire families in tow. Some say the Dakpas have done this for more than a millennium, beginning shortly after Guru Padmasambhava sanctified the place in the 8th century AD.

So, in just the blink of an eye, the otherwise desolate rock-scarred landscape mushrooms into a town of tents and huts filled with people of all shades and colours. Towards dusk, the occupants of these make-shift dwellings join a fiver of crowd for the clockwise circumambulation of the temple and the rock chanting the omnipotent mantra of Guru Rinpoche. This often lasts till dawn. The Guru is attributed to have said that devotees will flock to Gomkora for eons on to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. There couldn't be a more accurate prophesy.

The festival also provides the much-needed respite for work-worn farmers. Especially in recent years, the strictly religious events has become a great social outlet, as young boys and girls from various regions meet and mingle, their casual relationship often sparking into courtship and eventually marriages. The rendezvous may sometimes be brief but the memory lives on: after all, with all its spiritual aura amid a medieval like setting, what better place than Gomkora for an unforgettable romantic interlude.

The spirit of romance, in fact, might have been perpetrated by the Great Guru himself. One of those indications comes in the form of a boulder, weighing up to 200 kg, that has to be lifted and carried around the black rock. The reward: fertility of barren women, and test of courage and strength among the men-folk before an audience of admiring women. No less ardous and romantic is the "sin-cleansing" rigour, entering and exiting a dark and dank rock tunnel said to have been created during the duel between the Guru and the evil spirit.

Apart from these, as in any religous gathering in Bhutan, there are the mask and folk dances, the unfurling of the sacred scroll for public viewing and an assortment of modern entertainments such as music, films, jesting and other pleasantries. Trading too is brisk while the festival lasts with wares for sales ranging from simple farm implements to western imports like Coke and Pepsi.