If you grew up singing Lho Tsenden as the starting line of the national anthem, you must be very close to superannuation, or superannuated. 😁😁😁

Yes, before Druk Tsenden it was Lho Tsenden. The English translation we were taught was “the southern land of sandalwood.”

The word “Lho” was changed to “Druk” in the early 1980s. The original lyrics of the anthem are attributed to Dasho Gaydon Thinley, which were later shortened to this by Dasho Shingkar Lam, and the music score and tune were composed by Dasho Aku Tongmi (Bhutan’s first bandmaster).

I had the privilege of interviewing Dasho Shingkar Lam and Dasho Aku Tongmi on this topic and spent a lot of time with these great personalities—just listening to their stories and lived history. The year was 2002 when I did the documentary “Monarchy in Bhutan” (I believe the Desuung training center shows this to all trainees). 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Just a trivial piece of history, if you care.