Drakul's Literature Festival to be held in Bhutan from August 4-6

Thimphu [Bhutan], April 16 : Drakul's Literate Festival will be held in Bhutan from August 4-6. It is an annual celebration of literature and arts in Bhutan, under the Royal Patronage of Bhutan's Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, who herself is a celebrated author, The Bhutan Live reported.

In the past decade, international literary figures such as Pico Iyer, Ruskin Bond, and Vikram Seth as well as contemporary Bhutanese authors like Aum Kunzang Choden have attended the festival, as per the news report.

The festival has been a successful forum for the exchange of literature and the creative arts and a celebration of the two cultures of India and Bhutan due to Bhutan's Queen Mother as she has sponsored and edited a number of books on poetry and essays on issues relevant to the country.

Bhutan's Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck's book Rainbows and Clouds which is the biography of her father Yab Ugyen Dorji gives a fascinating and intimate glimpse of life and times in the remote eastern Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan during this century. The book also shares a glimpse of Bhutanese culture, society and history, as per The Bhutan Live report.

Her second book Treasures of the Thunder Dragon- A Portrait of Bhutan is a mixture of personal memoir, history, folklore and travelogue, as per the news report. Bhutan's Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck's third book is a documentation of the Druk Wangyel Complex which includes Lungchutse Lhakhang, 108 Druk Wangyel Stupas, the Druk Wangyel Lhakhang and the Druk Wangyel Tshechu.

Further, as per the news report, Bhutan's Queen Mother is committed to the upliftment of the people of Bhutan. She has remained the Chief Patron of Bhutan's Ministry of Agriculture since 1999. She has started numerous programmes to improve the quality of life of the people in Bhutan, particularly in the rural regions through the creation of the Tarayana Foundation.

The Tarayana Foundation works in rural villages of Bhutan to bring about holistic community growth and development among needy communities, according to The Bhutan Live report. Bhutan's Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck also makes efforts for environment preservation and offers her support to National Parks, Biological Corridors and programmes to protect the environment.