Folk Heritage Museum
Welcome to the Folk Heritage Museum located in Kawajangsa, in the heart of the capital city, Thimphu. The Folk Heritage Museum is within walking distance of the National Library of Bhutan and the National Institute for zorig choesum (13 Traditional Arts). The Folk Heritage Museum dedicates itself to connecting people with the rich Bhutanese Folk heritage and rural history through exhibits, demonstrations, educational programs and documentation of Bhutanese rural life. The Museum will strive to disseminate the rich cultural heritage across generations by preserving it in different forms. You can also check the Bhutan Cultural Tour of Bhutan
History of Folk Heritage Museam
Folk Heritage Museum also known as Phelchey Toenkhyim was established on July 28th, 2001 with the initiative of the Queen Mother of Bhutan, Her Majesty Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck. It is dedicated to connecting people to the Bhutanese rural past through exhibits, demonstrations, educational programs, and documentation of rural life. Her Majesty is also the founder and patron of the Museum.
The Folk Heritage Museum is the oldest historical place in Bhutan. The Museum is more than 150 years old, and one can see that the rural setting and flavour have been well-preserved in addition to the paddy, wheat, and millet fields that can be seen here. A traditional water mill with millstones, traditional style kitchen gardens with vegetables that were grown over the past 100 years, and the famous traditional hot stone bath are also preserved. Native trees and plants that have domestic uses in Bhutanese rural households are being grown here to keep indigenous knowledge about the use of natural resources alive and to include a patch of greenery, right in the heart of the capital city of Thimphu.
The next two levels of the Museam
The next two levels of the house are accessible via steep, open-tread timber stairs in which visitors are advised to take caution while moving between floors. The second level of the farmhouse is used primarily as a safe store for grain and food. And on the third level, visitors will have reached the centre of the family’s living and dining area. This is the only level of the homestead with heating, generated by a wood-fired stove set against an external wall in the separate kitchen area. Adjoining the kitchen is a living area and also where the entire, often large, family would have slept.
The Ground floor of the Museam
The ground floor entrance to the farmhouse is accessible via a small, partially covered, stone courtyard used to store firewood, farming equipment and grain. There is also an incense burner even today, for the daily burning of incense as an offering to the protective deities. The ground floor resembles a barn more than the entrance to a home as this is where farm animals are housed during the coldest periods of Bhutan’s harsh winters.
What to expect from the Museam?
Visit the Folk Heritage Museum is a unique experience because the principal exhibit of the museum itself is a restored three-storied, traditional rammed mud and timber house dating back to the mid-19th century. The form and the design of the house are that of a conventional; household in the Wang area of that era.
Visitors Information
- April to October: 0900 to 0500
- November to March: 0900 to 0400 Hours.
- Weekend: 1000 to 0400
PLEASE NOTE:
It is forbidden to take pictures and video recordings in the Museum although visitors are allowed to take pictures outside the museum premises. We would like to kindly request the visitors to cooperate with us and help us in enforcing these rules and regulations. The artefacts inside the Museum are important historical treasures. They are very old, and some are quite rare. Touching the artefacts also increases the risk of breaking them. Please help us preserve these historical treasures for many generations to come.
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