A tshechu is held on and around the tenth day of a month in the Bhutanese lunar calendar, honouring Guru Rinpoche, who brought Buddhism to Bhutan. Villagers arrive in their finest kira and gho, and the courtyards fill for two or three days of masked dance, blessing and community.

The big ones

• Paro Tshechu — spring, one of the largest, ends with the unfurling of a giant thongdrel at dawn
• Thimphu Tshechu — autumn, the most attended, held in the capital's Tashichho Dzong
• Jambay Lhakhang Drup — autumn, Bumthang, famous for the midnight naked fire dance
• Punakha Drubchen — late winter, re-enacts a 17th-century battle

Etiquette

Dress modestly with shoulders and knees covered, ask before photographing people up close, stay outside the dance ground, and never photograph the thongdrel.