PUNAKHA, Bhutan — Placing an embroidered silk crown on her head, Bhutan’s “Dragon King” married his longtime girlfriend Thursday in a small, private ceremony mixing Buddhism and medieval tradition, in the heart of a huge monastic fortress in the country’s former capital.
It was a strong reaffirmation of Bhutan’s ancient traditions, of continuity in a time of a change, but also in some ways a symbol of this country’s gradual emergence into the modern world.
King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 31, was educated at Britain’s Oxford University and in the United States, where he played college basketball and became a fan of the NBA and Elvis Presley.
On Thursday, he solemnly set the brocade crown on the head of his beautiful but slightly nervous-looking bride, 21-year-old Jetsun Pema, to make her his queen.
He then sat back down on the Golden Throne and placed his Raven Crown on his own head, his new wife sitting to his left and a giant golden Buddha towering behind them.
After the ceremony, he told a small group of reporters how happy he was. “I have been waiting for quite some time to get married,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter when you get married as long as it is to the right person. I am certain I am married to the right person.”
Earlier, in the most sacred part of the ceremony, the king, his father and the country’s chief abbot, the Je Khenpo, had sought the blessings of the Shabdrung Namgyel, a lama who unified the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan in the 17th century and whose embalmed body is preserved in a small chamber within the fortress, or dzong.
Access to the chamber is so restricted that not even the royal bride was allowed to enter.
Instead, she prayed and prostrated herself in an outer chamber before the king’s father emerged to place around her neck five scarves blessed by the Shabdrung, and presented her with a golden chalice containing curd that had been transformed into holy ambrosia.
Later, the ceremony moved to the throne room where she prostrated herself before the king himself. She then presented him with the cup of ambrosia from which he sipped, before crowning her. Monks chanted blessings for the royal couple while long trumpets droned and offerings were made for their well-being and long life.
The ceremony kicks off three days of celebration in this tiny Himalayan land that is slowly but steadily modernizing. In the afternoon, thousands of people gathered by the side of the white-walled dzong or fortress of Punakha, where the king was entertained by traditional dances. As usual, he spent much more time mingling with wedding guests and ordinary Bhutanese people than sitting still and listening to the entertainment.
The bride is the daughter of an airline pilot whose family has long known the royals. Family friends said it was a love marriage between a couple who had already been living together for eight months.
Nevertheless, the fact that the bride’s family comes from the country’s elite and is of seemingly impeccable character helped smooth the way, as did the royal astrologers’ views on their compatibility.
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