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Museum Hours
Thu: 1 PM–8 PM
Fri–Mon: 10 AM–5 PM
Tue–Wed: Closed
Location
200 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415.581.3500
Tickets
Background Information

An Introduction to the Kingdom of Bhutan

Known as the “Land of the Thunder Dragon,” Bhutan is a remote Himalayan kingdom located east of Nepal and west of Burma, between Tibet and India. On its northern border, Bhutan is flanked by some of the tallest mountains in the world.

Unified in the 1600s, Bhutan is the only existing Vajrayana Buddhist kingdom in the world. It is also one of the few countries in Asia that was never colonized. The Vajrayana branch of Buddhism dates back at least to the 700s in Bhutan, when its esoteric teachings were propagated by the great saint Padmasambhava, known in Bhutan as Guru Rinpoche. Bhutan is famous today for the preservation of its traditional culture, its pristine environment, and its official policy of Gross National Happiness (GNH) — in contrast to other countries’ focus on Gross National Product (GNP).