Maharaja of Bhutan at the International Lowcost Housing Exhibition

Ashi Ashi (Avestan: 𐬀𐬴𐬌 ''aṣ̌i/arti'') is the Avestan language word for the Zoroastrian concept of "that which is attained." As the hypostasis of "reward," "recompense," or "capricious luck," ''Ashi'' is also a divinity in the Zoroastria ...

Kesang Choden (born 21 May 1930) is the Queen Grandmother of

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

and the widow of the late

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck Jigme Dorji Wangchuck ( dz, འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་པོ་ འཇིགས་མེད་རྡོ་རྗེ་དབང་ཕྱུག་མཆོག་, ; 2 May 1928 – 21 July 1972) was the 3rd Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan. He began ...

. She participates in royal duties of her own accord. She is the only queen grandmother in the world. In Bhutan she is called ''The Royal Grandmother''.

Education

She was educated at the St Joseph's Convent,

Kalimpong Kalimpong (Hindi: कलिम्पोंग) is a town and the headquarters of an eponymous district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of . The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district. The re ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, as well as the House of Citizenship,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In her reminiscence, the Queen notes:

Marriage and family

She married to Crown Prince of Bhutan (''Druk Gyalsey''),

, at the Ugyen Pelri Thang Palace, Paro, on 5 October 1951. She became Queen consort of Bhutan in 1952 when her husband, King

, ascended to the throne upon the death of his father. In 1953 she was expecting her first child, a daughter. Her first daughter arrived earlier than she expected as she was waiting for a Western doctor and her mother to travel to

Thimphu Thimphu (; dz, ཐིམ་ཕུག ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's ''dzongkhags'', the Thimphu District. The ancient ...

to help with the delivery. The previous Queen, ''Ashi''

Phuntsho Choden Ashi Phuntsho Choden (1911–2003) was the Queen consort of Bhutan. Early life ''Ashi'' Phuntsho Choden was born in 1911 at Wangducholing Palace to ''Chumed Zhalgno'', ''Dasho'' Jamyang (of the Tamzhing Choji family - also known as the Myo fami ...

, her maid, and the Bhutanese doctor Phenchun helped to deliver her daughter. Her children with the Third

Druk Gyalpo The Druk Gyalpo (; 'Dragon King') is the head of state of the Bhutan, Kingdom of Bhutan. In the Dzongkha, Dzongkha language, Bhutan is known as ''Drukyul'' which translates as "The Land of the Thunder Dragon". Thus, while kings of Bhutan are ...

were: * Princess (Druk Gyalsem) Sonam Choden Wangchuck (born 1953). * Princess (Druk Gyalsem) Dechen Wangmo Wangchuck (born 1954). * King (Druk Gyalpo)

Jigme Singye Wangchuck Jigme Singye Wangchuck ( dz, འཇིགས་མེད་སེང་གེ་དབང་ཕྱུག་, ; born 11 November 1955) is a member of the House of Wangchuck who was the king of Bhutan (Druk Gyalpo) from 1972 until his abdicati ...

(born 1955). * Princess (Druk Gyalsem) Pema Lhaden Wangchuck (born 1959). * Princess (Druk Gyalsem) Kesang Wangmo Wangchuck (born 1961).

Royal duties

In 1972, she was appointed

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

when her husband was ill. She has also been a patron of annual prayers conducted for the well-being and security of the King, country, and the people. She provides subsistence allowance to about 200 monks and tshampas (lay monks) in various monasteries in Bumthang, Dokar Phurdrub

Gompa A Gompa or Gönpa ( "remote place", Sanskrit ''araṇya''), also known as ling (), is a Buddhist ecclesiastical fortification of learning, lineage and sādhanā that may be understood as a conflation of a fortification, a vihara and a universit ...

and Euto Gompa in Paro, Nyala Gompa in

Trongsa Trongsa, previously Tongsa (, ), is a Thromde or town, and the capital of Trongsa District in central Bhutan. The name means "new village" in Dzongkha. The first temple was built in 1543 by the Drukpa lama Ngagi Wangchuck, who was the great-gran ...

and Jangsa Gompa in

, India. She also has a keen interest in preserving the unique art, architecture and cultural heritage of Bhutan and in promoting research and scholarship on the kingdom. She often visits religious places in Bhutan and India. In commemoration of the Royal Grandmother's 87th birth anniversary, a book titled "The Heart of a Sacred Kingdom, Her Majesty the Royal Grandmother Ashi Kesang Choden Wangchuck: A Lifetime of Service to the People and Kingdom of Bhutan" was published on Sunday 21 May 2017.South Asian Monitor
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Ancestry

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kesang Choden 1930 births Living people Bhutanese monarchy Dorji family Wangchuck dynasty Queen mothers