Triu Festival of Lhuntse
Triu (སྤྲིའུ་, also known as Treu) is one of the festivals observed and celebrated in Lhuentse Dzongkhag in northeastern part of Bhutan. It is generally believed that Triu is a celebration of Guru Rinpoché’s birthday, who is believed to have been born in an Earth Monkey year. Therefore it is an ideal time to make offerings to him. Triu is celebrated almost in all the gewogs of Lhuentse Dzongkhag and is similar to the Triu Chö in Bumthang. The celebration ranges from a day to three days. In some communities they call it Treu. The people of upper Menbi gewog call the festival Triu Chö, like the people in Bumthang. Some villages celebrate at home while others gather in temples or other religious sites.
Triu Celebration at Menbi
In Menbi, Triu is celebrated on the 10th day of the fourth lunar month—the Monkey Month—of the Bhutanese calendar. People in Menbi celebrate Triu at Rewachen Né, a sacred site associated with Guru Rinpoché located on the top of a hill. The people of Menbi gather at this holy place to make offerings to Guru Rinpoché. On this day, people visit the sacred né and enjoy specially-made meals and drinks.
Triu Celebration at Jasabi
The Triu festival of Jasabi is observed with the belief that when Guru Rinpoché was in Bhutan, he visited Jasabi village and started the Triu celebration. According to local lore, at one time when the people of Jasabi village could not make an offering to the gods, there were landslides, floods, diseases and famine in their community. The community consulted a great lama who advised the village to celebrate the Triu festival annually. People of Jasabi celebrate Triu every year at Tergang temple between the 10th and 12th days of the fourth lunar month. During the celebration, people make offerings of various food to Guru Rinpoché and pray for the wellbeing of their community.
On the first day, every household in the village makes offerings of butter lamps and tsok (ཚོགས) or feast offering. However, the main celebration begins on the tenth day, when all the villagers gather at Tergang Temple to perform rituals and make offerings to the deities. People spend the night at the lhakhang.
The next day, the eleventh day, they perform rituals and offer butter lamps and the Triu is marked by a dances, which involve a lot of jumping. The villagers sing a song as they arrive at the celebration ground. At the end of the day, they all gather to receive blessings of long life.
Sonam Chophel was a researcher at Shejun Agency for Bhutan’s Cultural Documentation and Research. Karma Phuntsho edited the article.