100 Places To Remember: Mount Chomo Lhari, Bhutan
Geschreven op 6-3-2010 - Erik van Erne. Geplaatst in Natuur
Land of the Thunder Dragon. For the last 1,200 years, Buddhism has been the dominant religion in the small kingdom of Bhutan, squeezed between Tibet and India on the southern slopes of the Himalayas. Bhutan covers some 38,000 square kilometers (about the size of Switzerland) of rugged mountainside, deep valleys and snow-covered peaks.
The locals call it Druk Yu, meaning Land of the Thunder Dragon. It is thought that its official name, Bhutan, derives from a Sanskrit term meaning At the end of Tibet.
In the 17th century, fortress monasteries dzongs in Bhutanese – were built across the country to offer protection from Tibetan invaders. Many of these still survive as working monasteries but a few have been destroyed by fire, such as Sey Dzong, the ruins of which lie at the foot of the holy mountain of Chomo Lhari.
Until Bhutan became a member of the UN in the early 1970s, the country lived in self-imposed isolation. Its 600,000 inhabitants had no contact with the outside world and no foreigners were allowed access.
For centuries, the population has depended on melt water from the glaciers of the high mountains to irrigate their farmland. In recent years, Bhutan has also used the water to produce hydro energy.
Climate change is causing a significant increase in the melt-off from the glaciers. The rapidly increasing flow of water into the glacial lakes high in the mountains is posing a serious threat to the Bhutanese who live in the valleys. There is a danger of the banks of the lakes bursting, causing landslides and floods, and damaging farmland, housing, infrastructure and the ancient dzongs.
At some point, the glaciers on the holy mountain of Chomo Lhari and other Himalayan peaks may disappear altogether.
