Bhutan is a country with diverse cultures, ways of life, languages, and religious beliefs. Bhutan’s population of over 700,000 people may only be small, but there are 19 different spoken languages (van Driem, 2015). The population of Bhutan underwent significant changes in its makeup and ethnicity when the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese, also known as Lhotsampas (“People of the South”), began to immigrate to Bhutan from Nepal. In the middle to late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, inhabitants of Nepal were invited to settle in the lowlands of southern Bhutan (Maxym et al, 2010). Buddhism is the most popular religion in Bhutan, followed by Hinduism. Bhutanese culture is thus heavily influenced by revered Buddhist ideals. Bhutanese people adhere to their religious beliefs and have a high regard for their gods and deities (Holidify, 2020). Contrary to the nearly entirely Buddhist northern Bhutanese, the majority of the Lhotsampa people about 22% of the population follow Hinduism and are mainly concentrated in the southern Bhutan (U.S DS, 2020). After Buddhism, Hinduism is the second most popular religion in Bhutan. There are many Hindu temples, particularly in the southern Bhutan (Maxiym et al, 2010). The Lhotsampa people celebrate Hindu festival and religious occasions just like the Hindu community in India (78.9%) and Nepal (80.6%). Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, which means that there are numerous deities as opposed to a single supreme deity (Wisevoter, 2023). As a result, Lhotsampa also performs various religious rituals related to various deities, one of which is the Devi Puja ritual performed particularly for deity known as Devi.
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