A tsechu is a religious festival held in the courtyard of a dzong or monastery on the tenth day of a lunar month, honouring Guru Rinpoche. For the surrounding valleys it is the event of the year: families arrive in their finest woven clothes, sit around the courtyard for two or three days, and watch dances that carry specific religious meaning rather than functioning as entertainment.
The dances
The cham dances are performed by monks or trained laymen in heavy brocade robes and carved wooden masks — wrathful deities, animals, skeletal figures representing the lords of the cremation ground. Each dance depicts an episode: the subjugation of demons, the judgement of the dead, the arrival of Buddhism in the Himalaya. Watching them is believed to bring merit and, in some cases, protection at the moment of death.
Between the serious dances come the atsara — clowns in red masks with long noses who mock the audience, imitate the dancers and keep the crowd moving. They are not comic relief bolted on; they have a defined role in the ritual.
The thongdrel
The great festivals culminate with the unfurling of a thongdrel, an enormous appliqué thangka several storeys high, hung against the dzong wall before sunrise and rolled away again before direct sunlight touches it. The word means 'liberation on sight': seeing it is held to cleanse the viewer. This happens very early — often around four in the morning — and it is worth the sleep you lose.
Which ones
Paro Tsechu, in March or April, is the largest and the most accessible to visitors, ending with a thongdrel. Thimphu Tsechu, in September or October, is the biggest in terms of crowds. Jambay Lhakhang Drup in Bumthang, in autumn, includes a naked midnight fire dance and feels far less arranged for outsiders. Smaller village tsechus in the east are where the atmosphere is most genuine.
Dates follow the Bhutanese lunar calendar and shift each year, so they must be confirmed before booking. Hotels in Paro and Thimphu fill months ahead for the major festivals.
How to behave
Dress modestly and formally — this is a religious occasion, and the Bhutanese around you are in national dress. Sit where directed, do not walk across the dance ground, and do not use flash. Stand when monks or officials process past. Photographing the dancers is accepted; photographing individual worshippers close-up without asking is not.