Bhutan’s Coining Journey: Koch Kingdom’s Connection

Boy, am I really, really excited! I mean, I am finally in no doubt whatsoever that I have it nailed!

Whole lot of writers and historians have theorized - a plethora of conflicting views have been opined, and claims made - as to when and where exactly Bhutan’s coining journey began. The confusion is so total that the publication of my coin book has been on hold for the last 15 years - for fear that I may be putting out a factually flawed book. Not to say that I hope to put out a book without any flaws - but I believe it to be my responsibility to try and ensure that the work I release for public consumption is one with the least bit of inaccuracies. Friends and collectors around the world are running out of patience - they tell me that I should go ahead and publish the book .... they say that I can correct any inaccuracies - by releasing a second edition to the book. I tell them - what is the guarantee that I will live long enough to be able to bring out a second edition? 😂

Anyway, close to ten years back when I first came across the following record, I was hugely amused - that good old Bhutan had been cheated out of Rs.5,000.00 worth of silver - I mean how funny is that? However, beyond the sense of tickle, I did not give it much thought. Then again, few days back, in an effort to review my work on the book so far, I reassessed the Note once again …. this time though, my sense of intrigue went beyond the thuggery - it dawned on me that the Note held far greater meaning than I had given it credit during my first reading. I realized that it held the answer to part of the puzzle: when and where did Bhutan begin it's coining journey?

Letter of Request for the recovery of Rs.5,000.00 worth of silver from the Raja of Cooch Behar

I went into a deep delve: Who was the Maharaja of Bhutan (Druk Desi) who authored that Note addressed to the British Governor General in the year 1785? Records indicate that it was Jigme Singye who served as the 18th Druk Desi - between 1776 to 1789.

The Note is explicit that the silver was sent to the “grandfather” of the “present Raja” for minting. Who was the “present Raja”? According to the official records of the government of Cooch Behar, the “present Raja” would be Raja Harendra Narayan - he ruled Cooch Behar between 1783 - 1839.

I pieced together the genealogy of Koch Kingdom’s Narayani Dynasty and the succession of their reign. It turns out that the “grandfather” under reference to whom the silver was supposed to have been sent, would have to be Raja Dairjendra Narayan - during his second term between 1775 – 1783.

Reign of successive Rajas of the Koch Kingdom's Narayani Dynasty - for the period between 1765 - 1839

This is most revealing! - the Note establishes the fact that THERE WAS NO MINT LOCATED WITHIN BHUTAN - not at least during early part of the reign of Druk Desi Jigme Singye. That is why silver had to be sent to Cooch Behar - for hammering into coins - even at the risk of being occasionally usurped!

Champions of Rangzhi Nyetang

In the five years that I served as the Club Secretary of the Rotary Club of Thimphu, from 2017 to 2021, I helped the Club raise funding in excess of Nu.400.00 million that went into supporting meaningful projects in a number of areas such as Agriculture, Education, Health, WASH etc. etc.

Nothing was too small, or outlandish, for the Club to handle. I had a personal motto:

We Are Not God To Decide Who Needs Help and Who Does Not!

We have been called in to help with a mind-boggling array of services - from help in skilling the women inmates at Dawakha Open Air Prison, to supply of portable shit pots to every single RBP stations across the country, including, as gory as it sounds - to providing freezers to freeze the dead and the departed at Gelephu General Hospital etc. etc.

But there was one thing I adamantly refused to touch:

AWARENESS PROGRAMS!!

I am of the firm belief that trying to make the Bhutanese aware of anything is akin to throwing good money behind bad joke! Even a drunkard friend offered me the view that the only way to make a Bhutanese aware is through the use of - Taetha - the Stick! For proof, consider the following:

On 11th June, 2025 I was driving down to town. As I approached Pangrizampa Bazam, I saw a motley of people around a table fully laden with bottles and bottles of mineral water - the small sized ones. I was a little intrigued as to why that water station was set up. As I continued my drive towards Taba, I saw a haphazard string of joggers/runners advancing towards me.

Wellbeing at the cost of the Environment

I moved to the shoulder of the road and parked my car so that they could pass freely and without hindrance. It was then that I noticed a jogger gulping down water from a small mineral water bottle … and mindlessly chuck the empty bottle on the road! He was not alone – some others did the same.

I was aghast! How can they? As I continued my drive towards town, I noticed many empty bottles on the road - all of them of the same size and brand. I realized that the joggers/runners were responsible for all that trash …. So I retracted back to Parizampa Bazam and began picking up every discarded plastic bottle - to see how many of these bottles have been chucked on the road.

In a distance no more than 3 KMs, I gathered 69 empty bottles - some flattened - some whole.

Days later I got to know that the joggers/runners were all civil servants participating in an event designated “Celebrating Civil Service Well Being Day”.

The Program List does not show littering as part of the event activity

I couldn’t believe it! They do this? After decades of education on Rangzhi Nyetang (environment)? Have they learnt nothing at all??

I am dumb founded - I mean, we are supposed to be recipients of the Champions of the Earth Award, J. Paul Getty Award for Conservation Leadership, Murie Spirit of Conservation Award, Green Destinations' Silver Award …. and so many other awards.

There were 69 empty plastic mineral water bottles carelessly chucked on the road. Suppose 100 civil servants had participated in the event - that would account for a whooping 69% of them being totally uneducated.

If 200 had participated, it would still mean 34.5% of them.

It is so heart breaking - obviously being literate is not the same as being educated! How else can you explain such disgusting behavior from the supposed crème de la crème (to qualify to get into the civil service one is supposed to be the most excellent, outstanding, or the elite)?

Fellows, we seriously need to get serious about deserving the numerous environmental accolades the global community bestow upon us - or we will be caught out soon.

The Silent Watcher On The Hilltop

When construction of the Shakyamuni Buddha statue at Kuensel Phodrang began in 2006, I was excited - from all accounts the structure was destined to be a major crowd-puller - Buddhist faithfuls, as well as, the gawk-eyed tourists. And when the skeletal internal steel support frame came into shape, my interest was heightened even further - because there was some strange and eerie kind of appeal about it.

The internal steel frame for the cladding

Thereafter, I began photographing the statute as it began to take shape ….. every stage of the construction’s progress.

The steel frame now fully clad

The process of removing the scaffolding

The Third Eye is installed - workers in the process of removing the scaffolding

The construction of the statue is near complete - cladding is fully done and all the scaffolding is dismantled and removed

2015: the job is done. The Buddha sits serenely while a thick fog rises around him

Then one day sometime in 2010-2011, quiet unexpectedly, my camera captured a flaw on the Zhey (face) of the Buddha …. both on the right as well as on the left of the Buddha’s cheeks. The glaring welding defect could clearly bee seen - running horizontally across the Buddha’s cheek:

The flawed LEFT cheek of the Buddha's face

The flawed RIGHT cheek of the Buddha's face

Faith - any faith - is a powerful thing …. and I was aware that the Buddhists in Bhutan believe that it is bad omen to worship a statue with a flawed/scarred face. Thus, equipped with the photos of the Buddha’s flawed face, I went to see His Excellency JYT who was then head of the government. I showed him the photo of Buddha’s face. Within minutes, His Excellency called the Lam in charge and ordered the correction of the flaw.

I believe that the flaw was duly corrected .... and that was that!

Then, more than one and a half decades later, on 25th June, 2025, yet again, my camera captured the following scar on the right cheek of the statue:

A blemish on the right cheek of the Buddha's face - as it was visible on 25th June, 2025

This time I did not go to the government …. because I am told that some agency had taken over the management of Kuensel Phodrang. I hope one of these days they will LOOK and, even more important, SEE the problem. It is my hope that the authorities will investigate the matter and find out what is causing that ugly blemish on the serene face of the Buddha. To my untrained eyes, it looks like the problem is structural, and not merely superficial.

Over a thousand million Ngueltrums have been spent behind the construction of the beautiful statue. Even beyond that, millions have been spent in the beautification of Kuensel Phodrang. The greening efforts of the site was an event fit for the Guinness Book of World Records (2015).

And yet, in recent months the sacred site has fallen victim to human greed and mindlessness. For the sake of a handful of money, the site has been allowed to be subjected to defilement with waste and garbage – even to this day the surrounding forests’ floor remain littered with mounds of trash - it stinks of human excreta.

Thousands upon thousands of believers circumambulate the Buddha Dordenma statue all year round. But it is obvious that they are mostly mindless, sightless and clueless. They believe that they are engaged in the practice of religion. But I ask you - what kind of religion can they be practicing when, in their wake, they render asunder a sanctum sanctorum dedicated to the very Buddha whom they claim they so fervently worship?

Sad!

Setting The Record Straight!

I am not sure when Bhutan came to be called the “Land Of The Thunder Dragon”. Like everyone else, I found no reason to question the origins of the nomenclature - I just adopted it - as everyone else did. Then one day, a writer friend from Belgium sent me a photo of an impression of an old seal with the word “Druk” inscribed in Dzongkha script in the center of it.

Impression of the seal supposedly belonging to Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal with the word "Druk" on the Doongkar in the center

He wanted to know; “Does Druk mean Bhutan? Do you think this seal belonged to Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, as it is claimed?”

For a moment I was tempted to tell him “Yes - we are known as the “Land of The Thunder Dragon”, and that Druk means Dragon - the animal after which our country was supposedly named. But I am not sure if the seal belonged to Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal".

The only seal I know of that was supposedly issued by the Zhabdrung was the following:

The Nga Chudrukma Seal of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal

I hesitated - because, in my knowledge, the dragon that roared like the thunder is a mythical animal that existed only in legends and mythologies - both in Bhutan as well as across the globe. In reality, it did not exist. And yet, when I started my Blog, its banner was worded thus:

But my sense of curiosity was tickled by the Belgian friend and, after pondering for days, and weeks, I concluded that the word “Druk” could have been used to signify Druk Yuel - country of the people of Drukpa Kagyu faith - accepted as Bhutan’s state religion. So, I changed my Blog’s Banner to read as follows:

Over time though, I realized that this simply cannot be true - agreed that Drukpa Kagyu sect of Buddhism is accepted as the state religion practiced by Bhutan's State Monk Body (Zhung Dratsang). But side by side, we also have followers of the Nyingma sect - we have Christians, we have Hindus, Muslims and, quite surprisingly, even practitioners of a religious faith few would have heard of - the Baha’i faith.

So, once again, my Blog’s Banner went through a change - now, as you can see above, it reads:

I think the above is more appropriate and just - it encompasses the whole spectrum of people who are bona fide Bhutanese - and it leaves out the fire-spewing, jewel clutching reptilian that never existed!