Bhutan (Anthropology)

Abstract | PLEASE NOTE CORRECTION ON PAGE 59. TEXT STRUCK OUT IN RED SHOULD READ: "The Dowager Queen Gyalyum"
After more than two centuries of industrialized textile production, despite the displacement
of textiles into the margins of modern life, handweaving persists. While each instance
of successful manufacture is unique, commonalities can be identified that build towards an
understanding of contemporary roles for handmade cloth and the factors that bear on its
survival. This essay aims to consider Bhutan’s success in supporting and evolving handwoven
textiles as a model of maintaining handmade cloth in the twenty-first century. The narrative
relates the ups and downs of Bhutanese handweaving in the decades before and since the
millennium, presenting the complex interplay that has influenced the ways handwoven textiles
are made and used in modern Bhutan. In this sometimes chaotic scenario, patterns emerge
that illuminate the situation of textiles in Bhutan and indicate bases for comparison with other
regions where handmade textiles struggle, yet survive. Although Bhutan’s textile saga is unique
in many ways, particularly because of the country’s powerful monarchy and self-imposed
isolation, the essay highlights central elements of Bhutan’s success in maintaining the vigor
of handmade cloth that can be relevant anywhere that weaving remains part of modern life.1

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Geological materials, such as minerals, have a long history of usage as ingredients in multicompound formulations of Himalayan Sowa Rigpa medicine – as well as in its localized form of Bhutanese traditional medicine (BTM) – for treating various disorders for over thousand years. Yet, hardly any scientific research has been done on their ethnopharmacological efficacy and chemistry.
Aim of the study: This study documents and correlates the rarely explored ethnopharmacological and chemical identification of various minerals and their ethnomedicinal uses in BTM formulations for the first time.
Material and methods: A five stage cross-disciplinary process was conducted as follows: (1) a review of classical literature of Sowa Rigpa texts (Tibetan medical texts, pharmacopoeias and formularies) that are still in use today; (2) listing of mineral ingredients according to Sowa Rigpa names, followed by identification with common English and chemical names, as well as re-translating their ethnomedical uses; (3) cross-checking the chemical names and chemical composition of identified Sowa Rigpa minerals with various geological mineral databases and mineral handbooks; (4) authentication and standardization of Sowa Rigpa names through open forum discussion
with diverse BTM practitioners; (5) further confirmation of the chemical names of identified minerals by consulting different experts and pharmacognosists.
Results: Our current study lists 120 minerals as described in Sowa Rigpa medical textbooks most of which we were able to chemically identify, and of which 28 are currently used in BTM herbo-mineral formulations. Out of these 28 mineral ingredients, 5 originate from precious metal and stone, 10 stem from earth, mud and rocks, 8 are salts, and 5 concern ‘essences’ and exudates.
Conclusions: Our study identified 120 mineral ingredients described in Sowa Rigpa medical textbooks, out of which 28 are currently used. They are crucial in formulating 108 multicompound prescription medicines in BTM presently in use for treating more than 135 biomedically defined ailments.

In this paper we reflect on the transnational discourse on national Well- Being and Happiness (WBH) which has gained international prominence with the 2012 United Nations Conference. Although for quite some time the studies on WBH have been on the agenda of international bodies, we see the post-2007 proliferation and transnational convergence of well-being initiatives, particularly those aimed at measuring well- being through indicators, as potentially replacing the development discourse of the post-war period in terms of normative force and appeal. Aiming to unpack such normative appeal, we focus on three sites, the UK, Bhutan and Ecuador, and ask what well-being and happiness mean in each context. While a critique of growth as an end in itself appears to be common to these three sites, there are crucial differences in terms of both how Well-Being and Happiness are conceptualised, and the ways in which this understanding is able to affect policy-making and engender socio-economic change. At stake, we argue, is the appreciation of what the co-production between economic and non-economic spheres of life would generate. Our aim is to emphasise that, what the focus on convergence leaves out and what the turn to measurement says about the potential of well-being initiatives.