Over the recent Easter break my husband, Stuart, and I visited the beautiful kingdom of Bhutan, high in the Himalayan mountains. The country is renowned for the importance placed on Gross National Happiness rather than Gross National Product. It is a stunningly picturesque country with beautifully painted buildings, spectacular mountain scenery and 60% of its land protected for forest. It also has the most intriguing mix of ancient and modern; many people wear the national costume and whole-heartedly embrace their traditional culture but many also have smartphones and we had Wi-Fi in all our hotels. It is a truly extraordinary, beautiful country and I'm so glad we had the chance to visit. |
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You can find out more about the National Library of Bhutan here.
Alongside all the ancient religious scripts, is a very current addition - which fits perfectly with Bhutan's fascinating contrasts of ancient and modern!... It is the world's largest published book, published in 2003, using the latest digital and film equipment at that time.
| The book captures huge photographs of Bhutan, with the book measuring an enormous 5 feet by 7 feet. The book's production was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the MIT/Microsoft iCampus intiative and the project was led by Michael Hawley of MIT, with assistance from the Royal Government of Bhutan. |
Here are some more photos of the National Library of Bhutan: