November 25: The Ministry of Home and Culture Affairs handed over 111 Bhutanese religious arts and artifacts to the Honolulu Academy of Arts yesterday.

The arts and artifacts will be displayed at an exhibition on Bhutan titled, "The Dragon’s Gift: The sacred arts of Bhutan in the United States."

They will soon be packed and shipped to the United States for the exhibition.

It is the first time that the national treasures of Bhutan are being taken out of the country for a major exhibition aboard.

The handing taking paper was signed by Home Secretary Dasho Penden Wangchuk and Dr. Stephen Lee, Director of the Honolulu Academy of Arts yesterday morning.

The arts and artifacts were collected from Lhakhangs and Goendeys from across the kingdom.

To select them for the exhibition, experts from Honolulu Academy of Arts and Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs visited over 250 Lhakhangs and Goendeys. The preparation for the exhibition began in 2005.

After three years, the selected religious arts and artifacts some of them dating back to the 8th century now lie in the National Library ready to be shipped to the United States.

A ceremony was held yesterday to send off the arts and artifacts to the United States. It was attended by the venerable Tsula Lopen, senior government officials and delegates from Honolulu Academy of Arts. The venerable Dorji Lopen of the central monastic body was the guest of honour.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Secretary of the Home and Cultural Affairs Dasho Penden Wangchuk said the exhibition will showcase the richness of our cultural heritage and help the western world gain deeper understanding and appreciation of our values and traditions. He said aware of the concerns of the people and concerns raised by the National Assembly members, adequate measures have been put in place to protect them and ensure their safety.

The ceremony was also attended by the Director of the Honolulu Academy of Arts, Dr. Stephen Little. He says Bhutan’s achievement in keeping its culture and environment intact have many lessons for rest of the world. He said that the exhibition based on vajrayana Buddhism will reveal the beauty of Bhutan to the world.

The sacred art and artifacts will go around the world for the period of two years after which they will be returned to Bhutan.

The religious artifacts will remain in Honolulu for three months and after that they will be displayed in museums in New York and Sans Francisco. Other places are yet to be confirmed.

Alongside the exhibitions, scholars of Bhutanese history, art and culture will hold a series of lectures. Three monks from the central monastic body will travel with the religious artifacts and perform daily rituals.

The exhibition is one of the two major events abroad to mark the centenary celebration of Bhutan's monarchy, the other being the Folk Life Festival at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.