A Royal Himalayan Wedding
Posted: October 20, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bhutan, Bhutan Royal, Druk Gyaltsuen, himalayas, jetsun pema, Royal Wedding 5 Comments »Last week was a historic moment in the history of Bhutan. The 5th Dragon King of the Wangchuck Dynasty wed Her Majesty Ashi Jetsun Pema in a traditional Buddhist ceremony in Punakha, the ancient capital of Bhutan. It was a beautiful and colorful ceremony held in the 17th century fortress!! The celebrations just concluded yesterday (the 19th). There were some moments of solemnity during the religious sessions but lots of smiling and laughter in rejoice of the glorious event.
Unfortunately I was not there to witness all the festivities but I had to follow closely so I didn’t feel too left out/left behind thanks to the global press coverage and the distribution of images through the Royal Office for Media. Due to the various appearances made by the Royal Couple, I put up photos of each of her outfits for the different events:
The Queen wore chunky heels for the wedding ceremony!! I found a close up of the shoes and you can see elements of Bhutanese Buddhist art, definitely a fine compliment to the decor of the crown as well as the traditional buddhist artwork covering the fortress.
As for His Majesty, he wore a Brocade Gho (traditional attire of Bhutanese men) passed down from his great-grandfather… the 2nd King of Bhutan. The golden brocade gho with floral patterns that His Majesty wore for the Royal Wedding, the Third and Fourth Kings also wore the same gho at their weddings. The special boots are called Tsho Lham. Only worn by Bhutanese men, usually high officials and Royalty, during special occasions. The yellow scarf draped around the body is only worn by the King. The yellow is the color of the King, just like in Thailand.
On their way back to the Capital (Thimphu) meeting their well wishers:
I love the tiara, the celebration in Thimphu:
The last day in Paro:
Now that the Royal Wedding is over, rumours of the Royal Honeymoon are floating around. The Times of India is speculating that the Royal Couple will be heading to Rajasthan:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/people/Bhutan-royals-head-to-Rajasthan/articleshow/10377146.cms
How romantic! I’ve always been fascinated by the beauty and allure of Rajasthan. Not to mention their amazing textiles and jewellery. Which I hope/plan to blog about soon 
xx
Thankyou for the photos of each of her outfits. Most photos I have seen so far are of the kira she wore for the ceremony in Punakha, a copy of the pattern of her paternal grandfather’s gho. I’m looking forward to the Royal Wedding edition of Yeewong, as I hope they will have some close-up photos of her outfits
You’re welcome! My favourite is the last kira she wore at the Paro function. Did you notice the details of the animals? The snow leopard as depicted in buddhist art, the elephant, and some of the other buddhist symbols. UNPRECEDENTED and totally blew my mind
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. Hopefully Yeewong got exclusive access. I do remember seeing the editor at the ceremony and here and there when I was watching the videos of the events.
Also, its the gho of the third king, so it would be His Majesty’s paternal grandfather
You mean her kira was based on the gho of the 3rd king? Maybe I misunderstood the master weaver who I thought told me her wedding kira’s pattern was from her father’s father’s gho. He’s getting more confident in using English to speak to me, but we still have plenty of room for misinterpretation!
I apologize, I misread it. That does make sense, the design is similar to what HM wore at Changlimithang as well as Paro. The design of the Punakha kira is traditional and old school from what I am familiar with, and its a more common design for men as well. Especially with all the Pesars and more typical designs/patterns that are out there. It is a beautiful piece. It reminds me of a textile I inherited from my grandmother that was from the early 1900s.
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