Dance of the Yak

Many villages in Bhutan have festivals in which they witness the dance of yak. Many men get underneath a yak hair cover to perform the dance while one of them holds the wooden head of the yak with its snapping tongue and another holds the tail, made from real yak tail, and swings it in different direction. Comparable to the Tibetan snow lion dance and the Chinese dragon dance in its preparation and movements, the yak dance is performed as part of a worship of the local tutelary deity, which is believed to have the body of a yak. Shingkhar, Namkha and Chojam villages in Bumthang and Merak and Sakteng villages in Tashigang perform this dance.