Bhutanese legends contain a touching story about the "Four Friends" and we see paintings everywhere depicting the story. Our guide tells us the story. An elephant, a monkey, a rabbit and a bird are unable to eat until they work together. The bird plants a Mango tree, the rabbit waters it (by pissing on it) the monkey fertilizes it (guess how) and the elephant protects it and then they stand on each others shoulders to reach the fruit. Or something like that.
Behind us, a painted statue depicts the story in the courtyard of the National Institute for Zorig Chusum in Thimphu. We got a chance to enter each of the classrooms in this school and watch the kids work and cut-up. Ultimately, they must learn - in six years - to exactly recreate many intricate pieces of art from three millennia of Buddhist history.
No comments:
Post a Comment