A fable from Bhutan appears in Washington DC
It was a delightful moment, at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and Calvert Streets NW in Woodley Park, when I looked up and saw a huge mural of my favorite Bhutanese story of the Four Friends…
Indeed, there they are—the elephant, monkey, rabbit, and bird all stacked up helping each other pick the fruit from a plentiful tree. After many years working in Bhutan, where this popular story is part of the social fabric, and painted on schools, buses, houses, shops, and embroidered into wall hangings, I am so excited to see the Four Friends come to Washington.
This story is everywhere in Bhutan…
…here are just a few examples – Julia with her thangka, a temple in Bhutan, and a door curtain by Eternal Knot
…and now it’s here in Washington.
But who painted it and how did the first ‘Bhutanese’ mural in Washington DC—or perhaps the USA—appear here?
“A good message for today.”
Our Four Friends were painted by Joe Pagac, an artist and performer from Tuscon, Arizona, and his wife Arielle. In Joe’s words, “It’s based on the Buddhist legend of The Four Harmonious Friends. Each animal uses its unique talents and differences to harvest fruit and build a lifelong friendship. A good message for today.”
The story is derived from the Jataka Tales of the Buddha, and in a nutshell…the bird plants a seed, the rabbit waters it, the monkey fertilizes, and the elephant agrees to protect it. The seed grows into a bountiful tree, and through camaraderie, the four friends figure out a way to reach the fruit. In Dzongka, Bhutan’s language, it is called thuenpa puen shi, literally: cooperation, relations, and four. The belief is that wherever an image of the Four Friends is displayed, the ten virtues will increase, generating harmony and auspicious events.
Next time you are off to Woodley Park or the zoo, go find our beloved Four Harmonious Friends!
