Modernization is sweeping away many Bhutanese culture and traditions. And the unique Ache Lhamo chham is suffering a similar fate. Fearing it would soon be lost, a group of civil servants from Lauri gewog in Samdrup Jongkhar have come together and are helping youths from the gewog learn the age-old dance unique to their region.
A group of students from Lauri is the first batch of youths to learn the Ache Lhamo chham with support from the civil servants’ group. They spent over three weeks of their summer break perfecting the moves.
With a sense of accomplishment, they showcased their feat to fellow villagers living in Thimphu at Kuenselphodrang over the weekend. The group of civil servants started the project of encouraging youths in their gewog to learn the Ache Lhamo cham recently. They have collaborated with the elderly locals, who once performed the dance, to keep the tradition alive.
“We are performing this Ache Lhamo cham because most of the performers are more than 65 years old, and we couldn’t perform this chham for about 30 years. We want to revive this tradition and want to perform this chham because there are not many youths in our village, and also most of them migrated to urban areas. We want to revive this chham and want to perform annually either in Thimphu or in our village,” said Sangay Wangdi, the coordinator.
The group now hopes to make the performance an annual event either in Thimphu or their village. Ache Lhamo chham is regarded more as a drama rather than a dance. Many scholars accept it as a dance-drama that flourished in Bhutan since a long time back. It is also performed in Merak and Sagteng in Trashigang. The dance-drama tells or relates stories of people famed for their piety and miraculous achievements, be it spiritual or temporal.
Ache Lhamo literally means sister goddess or lady goddess. It is believed that the Tibetan saint and the bridge-builder Thangtong Gyalpo composed and brought the art to Bhutan in the 14th century.
