Atsara: A Sacred-Profane Character The Atsara figure is an integral part of many Bhutanese festivals. Being a primary agent of mirth and merriment, the red face comical character holding a phallus is generally thought of as a clown at the tshechu festivals. The Atsara character, however, is more than just a clown for entertainment. The Atsara combines the spirit of the sacred and profane, wit and wisdom, humour and responsibility. He helps his audience not only to forget their worries and problems with his jokes but also to occasionally drop their normal sense of self-importance, hypocrisy and false propriety through his pranks. The name, Atsara , is said to have come from the Sanskrit term acārya , which is transcribed in Tshuyig as ཨ་ཙརྱ་. Acārya refers to a teacher or scholar and was a title used to refer to the Indian masters. For instance, the three famous Indian acāryas who have shown grea...
Writing is important because we can communicate with others when they're not where you are or at a different time than you are. I can read a book, a newspaper, or even a personal letter written two or three hundred years ago. People, ten thousand miles away from me right now must be reading the very article I'm writing. A hundred years from now, someone would be reading something that you or I write today. So keep writing to let the world hear what you have to say...