Handmade paper that can last 1,000 years

The Jungshi Handmade Paper Factory in Thimphu is preserving the ancient art of paper making, or 'desho'

- Chaitali Patel

In one of the rooms of the Jungshi Handmade Paper Factory in Thimphu, Bhutan, Jamyang, 73, is hard at work. Sitting cross-legged against the wall, she deftly sorts boiled fibres of the daphne plant, a high-altitude shrub of the Thymelaeaceae family, removing hard bits or black parts, as my guide Sonam and I watch. This is the plant that forms the base of long-lasting paper, which naturally repels termites and other insects, for which Bhutan is known.

There are no accurate records of when paper-making, known as desho in the Bhutanese language Dzongkha, began but it is, in all probability, linked to the spread of Buddhism. Guru Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, introduced Buddhism in the country in the eighth century. Scriptures and religious texts were an important part of the religion, so paper was in high demand.

Tshering Dorji, the proprietor of Jungshi, tells us that some of the oldest scriptures on desho paper are around 8001,000 years old.

Over the years, with the advent of modern paper-making, the traditional art of desho began to decline as younger generations moved to cities and opted for professions more lucrative than paper-making. To preserve the art form, the ministry of trade and industry established Jungshi in 1990. In 1992, the factory was privatised under the sole proprietorship of Dorji's father, Norbu Tenzin.