Way of Life
While urban settlements have sprung up with the process
of modernization, the majority of Bhutanese people still live in small rural
villages. An agricultural based economy, small family farms are the predominant
way of life and the farming the most common occupation. As the altitude rises
crops give way to cattle and yak breeding.
The Bhutanese diet is rich in meat and poultry, dairy, grain (particularly rice-red and white) and vegetables. Emadatsi (chilli and cheese stew) is considered the national dish with many interpretations to this recipe throughout the country. Poultry and meat dishes, pork, beef and yak, are lavishly spiced with chillies, and it is common to see bright red peppers drying on rooftops in the sun. Salted butter tea, or suja, is served on all social occasions. Chang, a local beer, and ara, a spirit distilled from rice, maize, wheat or barley, are also common and widely favored. Doma or betel nut, is offered as a customary gesture of greeting. The Bhutanese way of life is greatly influenced by religion. People circumambulating the chortens with prayer beads and twirling prayer wheels are a common sight. Every Bhutanese home has a special room used for prayers, a chosum.