May 1: Bumthang is known for hand woven yathra production in the country. At present there are two Yathra sales houses in Bumthang. They used to do good business, especially during the tourist season. However, the shop owners say that the Yathra business has gone down drastically.

A 50-year-old Aum Sonam Lhamo has been weaving Yathra since her teenage days.

She has also been running Yathra sales house for some 18 years now. She sells coats, bags, wallets and varieties of mats made from Yathra.

Aum Sonam Lhamo’s sales house was a booming business five or six years ago. But now it has dwindled. In the past, tourists used to buy the products in bulk but these days they hardly buy any. Also not many Bhutanese are coming to the sales house these days.

“Unlike in the past tourists are buying the products much. They say they don’t like the colours of the products,” she said.

Today, it is hard for the sales house to sell goods worth of Nu. 1,000 to 1,500 a day. Earlier, the sales house used to sell goods worth of Nu. 5,000 to 6,000 a day.

The other Yathra sales house also has a similar story to share.