Of White-bellied Herons and Chagsi Pangkhep

A brand new society came into being yesterday – to coincide with the birth anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen of Bhutan. Bhutan Birdlife Society is formed by a group of young Bhutanese birding enthusiasts. I am not certain of the demographics of the society – but yesterday at the launch, there were young Foresters galore. I had the honor of speaking few words at the launch – but I did not give any talk – I made two requests. One, that the society should endeavor to start a naming convention for our birds. Bhutan is host to nearly 750 bird species – that is a whole lot of birds – lot more that most bigger countries.

The other request I made was that they should educate the Bhutanese people on our national bird - locally known as the Bja Oro - Common Raven (Corvus corax). Majority of Bhutanese mistake the bird for the Bja Ola - Large-billed Crow (Corvus macrorhynchos).

I also took the opportunity to point out something that needs to be studied further. I made reference to Bhutan’s most famous bird – the near extinct White-bellied Heron (Ardea insignis). Although this bird’s global population is estimated at around 200 individuals, only 60 sightings have been confirmed of which 25 are in Bhutan. Bhutan is today ranked as the most import habitat of the White-bellied Heron (WBH).

It is generally accepted that this bird’s first sighting in Bhutan was reported in 1974, in Sonagasa areas of Punakha. However, in the process of photographing the textile exhibits of the Royal Textile Academy, I stumbled on to something that points to the possibility that these birds may have existed in Bhutan few hundred years back, and in much larger numbers.

I produced the Royal Textile Academy’s catalogue of exhibits – it was released on 5th June, 2013. The catalogue is titled “THAGZO: The Textile Weaves of Bhutan”. There is a hardcover and a softcover version of the book. Some of the most rare images of Bhutan’s ancient and modern textiles can be seen in the book.

In the process of photographing the collection of textiles, I came across a very intriguing piece of textile called Chagsi Pangkhep – a multipurpose ceremonial cloth used in olden days. This piece of textile was donated to the Academy by Dr. Frederik Paulsen, Chairman of Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Switzerland.

As I trained my camera on the textile, one of the motifs on the textile caught my attention – that of a large bird with slender neck, long beak, hunched back and gangly legs with long claws. There was something very familiar about the motif – it resembled something that I knew I had seen somewhere before. I removed the camera and looked at the motif with naked eyes. Then it hit me – the motif had a striking resemblance to our famous bird – the White-bellied Heron. For four long years, I had chased the bird all over the country – to get a good image of it – Punakha, Wangdue, Berti, Changchey, Burichhu etc. Thus, the bird’s body shape was firmly imprinted in my mind. Take a look at the following two images placed side by side – one that of the motif on the Changsi Pangkhep and the other live bird photographed in Basochhu, Wangdue:

If the motif depicted on the Changsi Pangkhep is really that of the White-bellied Heron, then it may be true that the birds may have existed in Bhutan hundreds of years before 1974, the year it was supposedly first sighted in the country. The Chagsi Pangkhep is an ancient textile no longer in use these days.

Not only that the bird may have existed in Bhutan many hundred years back, the fact that a weaver had been able to render it on textile with such accuracy could also mean that their numbers were large so that the weaver sighted it so often that she managed to capture the body shape with such exacting accuracy.

Now, if it is not true that the birds existed in Bhutan many hundred years back, then there is another possibility. The possibility that the Chagsi Pangkhep is not Bhutanese in origin. It could be that the textile is from Cambodia or Burma or Laos. Don’t forget, both Burma and Cambodia are recognized as countries within the WBH range. Look at the similarity of the Cambodian weaves, with that of ours. The following photographs were taken by me in an eatery in Siam Reap, Cambodia in 2013:

If the Chagsi Pangkhep is actually Bhutanese, it is most likely that they would have been woven in Eastern Bhutan - most likely somewhere in Mogaar or Lhuentse. These regions do have the type of habitat preferred by the WBH. Unfortunately, these birds are not recorded to be occurring in Mongaar or Lhuentse. And yet, the most authoritative book on Bhutanese textile titled "TEXTILE ARTS OF BHUTAN" edited by Diana K. Myers and Susan S. Bean says that the Chagsi Pangkhep that I am referring to originates in Eastern Bhutan and dates it to somewhere between late nineteenth or early twentieth century.

Very complicated.