Pictures of huge, often decorated and ejaculating erections on homes and shops can be found through-out Bhutan. Wooden specimens hang from roof corners. These phallic symbols are meant to ward of evil spirits, and bring good fortune. Their popularity is said to stem from the 15th century lama Drukpa Kunley, the mad monk, of whom is said he used his penis to defeat demons, convert women to buddhism, and ridicule the existing religious authorities. These phallusses are also fertility symbols. The monastry Drukpa Kunley established is a pilgrim site for women wanting to become pregnant. The phallus was allready a central element in pre-buddhist animist Bon faith. Nowadays the explicit paintings are in danger of disappearing due to 'modernisation', the onlsaught of hordes of pruddish western tourists, as a result of which many urbanites have started to find them embarrassing. In urban centres the paintings are, therefore, informally discouraged. For more Bhutan: health, education. sports, religion.
