Practices Laid to Waste: Symbolic Classification, Healing and Pandemic Ritual Transformation in a Bhutanese Village
The Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies December 16, 2025 Dendup Chophel, Barbara Gerke, Sangay Thinley
In the village of Ketokha in southwestern Bhutan, Buddhist and shamanic traditions once coexisted, with female mediums (nejom) and male mediums (pawo) protecting villagers' health and prosperity. By 2018, infrastructure development and modernist discourses elevated Buddhism to dominance, and mediumship was discontinued. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this shift, establishing a refashioned protective ritual called Aum Bogum as the community's primary ritual identity. This photo essay focuses on that ritual and the life story of 94-year-old Tandin Om, the oldest living nejom, examining how archaic shamanic practices were discarded. Using Discard Studies, it unpacks the marginalization of elderly ritual practitioners as community elites promote a more progressive Vajrayana Buddhist order.