If a spot of this good earth were home at once to the divine, the natural, and the human, it has to be the sandalwood country, the land of life-herbs, abode of the peaceful dragon, suckled by the vital breath of the high Himalayas. The blessings of the trinity willed into being a dear space we fondly call Bhutan, our home. Here is the creative interplay of the sacred majesty of king, the good fortune of a people, and the fecund virtues of the land.

It may have been a rare fulfillment of a rare prophecy for a land and a people that rare kings would come and lead us on. And so it has been for Bhutan and the Bhutanese to have the blessings of continuity and the gift of hope so well personified by our beloved Druk Gyalpo Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.

It is not always that soil and citizens receive the blessings of wisdom and vision exemplified by the promise of youth combined in a king born to love and to lead. In a rare covenant between dream and reality, the powers above made an exception to the Jewel of the sacred Himalayas. This seat of the spiritual, the womb of dragon kings is the favoured child of destiny made ever dearer by the prince of our hearts.

It takes the graciousness of majesty and the humanity of the humble to spare an ear for the loneliest and the feeblest of voices and to hear with patience what may not please. And in times of joy, my king is the very image of bliss. This is the King Khesar way. Already, the royal hand rested on my lap as the Crown Prince leaned forward to talk to my colleague on my right. It was my moment.

It has to be a People’s King to worry about my old mother – frail in the hospital, or about my safety when the East shook with the earthquake or in times of a cosmic event. Only a people’s own king has the largeness of heart and the depth of love to reach out to the dear members of my family and to others like mine even in the midst of higher calls. Here is the poverty of words to express the fullness of my heart.

Friend to children, young and old, to statesmen and scholars, heads of state and celebrities, His Majesty is warm company at state banquets and receptions. He is at home with children in a dilapidated school cooking dinner for them or with village elders in a run-down hamlet-home sipping ara from peasant-women.  Here is my King – the effulgence of joy in celebrations and the very soul of solace in times of pain – laughter for laughter and sorrow for sorrow.

The Druk Gyalpo is the life-force of our nation, the omnipresent sun of our life, we meet in you and through you, dear King. The symbol of our nation’s cohesive principle, you kindle the lamp of common love and loyalty in the hearts of our diverse peoples.

Come Winter and come Spring, above and beyond the possible vagaries of time and chance, we look up to Your Majesty in hope and in prayer that we will cross over to the sunnier side of our future safe under your wings.

May the Triple Gem bless Your Majesties our beloved King, gracious Queen and precious Gyalsey with the gift of Long Life, Good Health and Joy forever and ever! May the blessings-filled celestial dome arch over our dear land all through the reign of our beloved King and for all times to come!

Prayers for ever…

Contributed by  Thakur S Powdyel