The rich and vibrant ancient cultures of Bhutan are fast disappearing as globalization reaches even the most remote valleys in Bhutan. This programme aims to carry out an extensive audio-visual documentation of Bhutan’s oral and intangible cultures, and has resulted in over 3,260 hours of audio-visual recordings.

Although Loden has conducted extensive documentation of Bhutan’s intangible cultural heritage, there are still many more aspects of Bhutan’s culture that are yet to be documented. The documentation of Bhutan’s intangible cultural heritage is a race against time as traditions and practices are transmitted orally. With the attention of Bhutanese youth being diverted towards modern trends, cultural knowledge lies with older generations who have no-one to pass the knowledge onto.

At Loden, we endeavour to preserve and promote Bhutan’s Oral traditions. While preservation of culture is important, it is equally important to promote cultural traditions among younger generations. To facilitate and encourage the youth’s learning of Bhutan’s oral traditions, Loden’s Cultural Programme has developed a dedicated website to act as a source of cultural knowledge.

The website will offer easy access to thousands of hours of Bhutan’s oral traditions amassed through years of documentation. This means that a student in Thimphu can listen to a village elder in Eastern Bhutan tell a century-old folk tale. Musicians seeking inspiration can listen to seasoned singers perform folk songs that cannot be found anywhere else online. International scholars studying Buddhist heritage will be able to access digitized texts that would otherwise have to be read at their physical locations.