Buddhism in Bhutan

[3] The state religion has long been supported financially by the government through annual subsidies to Buddhist monasteries, shrines, monks, and nuns.

[3] Guaranteed representation in the National Assembly and the Royal Advisory Council, Buddhists constitute the majority of society and are assured an influential voice in public policy.

[3] The hierarchy is headed by the Je Khenpo, who was assisted by five lopons or masters, each in charge of religious tradition, liturgy, lexicography, or logic and university.

[3] Their days are spent in study and meditation but also in the performance of rituals honoring various bodhisattvas, praying for the dead, and seeking the intercession of bodhisattvas on behalf of the ill.[3] Some of their prayers involved chants and singing accompanied by conch shell trumpets, trumpets made from human thighbones, metal horns up to three meters long, large standing drums and cymbals, hand bells, temple bells, gongs, and wooden sticks.

[3] Such monastic music and singing, not normally heard by the general public, has been reported to have "great virility" and to be more melodious than its Tibetan monotone counterparts.

[3] These earth, brick, or stone structures commemorate deceased kings, Buddhist saints, venerable monks, and other notables, and sometimes they serve as reliquaries.