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Bhutan

From Bahaipedia
 Bhutan
Location of Bhutan
National AssemblyIndia
Statistics:
Total Population
 -  UN 2021[1] 777,486
Bahá'í pop.
 -  Bahá'í source  
 -  Non-Bahá'í source 96
History:
Firsts
 -  Pioneers 1954, Shapoor Aspandiar Rowhani
1954, Ardishir Furúdí 
 -  Local Assembly 1972, Phuntsholing 
Related media
Categories: Bhutan • People

The Kingdom of Bhutan is a country in the Himalayas. The official language of the country is Dzongkha.

Bhutan has been inhabited since prehistory. In the 7th century Buddhism was introduced to the country and Vajrayana Buddhism is the current state religion. The region was united in the 17th century and was ruled by an absolute monarchy. In 2008 the country became a constitutional monarchy.

The Bahá’í Faith was first present in Bhutan in the 1950's and a community began to become established in the 1970's. The Bahá’í community of Bhutan is under the jurisdiction of the National Spiritual Assembly of India.[2]

History[edit]

Opening Bhutan to the Bahá’í Faith was a goal of the Ten Year Crusade which began in 1953. Shapoor Aspandiar Rowhani and Ardishir Furudi decided to pioneer to the country from India and in June 1954 they reached the border and met the Prime Minister, Jigme Dorji, who they spoke about the Faith with and he allowed them entry the country and provided them with a pack train of mules and supplies. Furudi returned to India after a short time and Rowhani remained teaching the Faith in a village until the Prime Minister asked him to leave the country after approximately two months as the doctor of the Queen had been unable to secure permission for Christian missionaries to enter the country and he did not want any tensions to arise.[3][2]

As of 1960 Kidar Nath Pradhan had pioneered to Bhutan from India and reopened the country to the Faith.[4] In 1961 Dr. Anayat Soroosh Yaganagi pioneered to Bhutan and settled in Phuntsholing where he worked constructing roads. By 1964 he had moved to Thimphu and was able to begin practicing as a medical doctor.[2]

In July 1971 Kamul Singh Sisodia pioneered to Bhutan and was joined by another pioneer from Sikkim and they experienced success teaching the Faith with the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Bhutan being established in Phuntsholing in 1972.[5] In 1976 the Bhutanese secretary of the Phuntsholing Assembly attended a thirty day deepening institute held in Uttar Pradesh, India.[6] In May 1977 two Bahá’ís, Renuka Vishwakarma a Sikkim youth and Dhambar Singh a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Sikkim, volunteered to pioneer to Bhutan at the Bahá’í Himalayan Conference held in Gangtok.[7][8] As of 1978 a Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds had been established in Jaigaon, Bhutan, and pioneer R.C. Gupta was operating a nursery school from it,[9] and the country had twenty Local Spiritual Assemblies.[10]

In 1984 Rúḥíyyih Khánum visited Bhutan for a short time with Violette Nakhjavani and Shirin Boman.[2] In 1985 youth from Bhutan attended the Asian Bahá’í Youth Conference held in New Delhi, India,[11] and the Promise of World Peace message released by the Universal House of Justice in 1985 was presented directly to the King of Bhutan.[12]

In 1993 the Universal House of Justice announced Bhutan was in need of pioneers but that circumstances in the country would make entry difficult and sensitive.[13] As of 1999 there was only one Local Spiritual Assembly in Bhutan in the capital Thimphu as many pioneers had departed the country. In 2000 a Local Spiritual Assembly was established in Gelephu.[2]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 https://bahairecollections.com/2017/03/24/tale-of-two-generations/
  3. ↑ Earl Redman, The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press: London. p 165
  4. ↑ Baha'i News (1960). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 353, Pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
  5. ↑ Baha'i News (1973). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 505, Pg(s) 23. View as PDF.
  6. ↑ Baha'i News (1977). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 550, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ Baha'i News (1977). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 557, Pg(s) 16. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ Baha'i News (1978). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 563, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ Baha'i News (1978). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 564, Pg(s) 17. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ Baha'i News (1978). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 571, Pg(s) 16. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ Baha'i News (December 1985). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 657, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ Baha'i News (1988). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 683, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ 30 June 1993 message from the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies
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