The national dress for men is Gho and Kira for women. Gho is a one-piece outfit pulled up to knee-length and fastened with a belt called kera at the waist, leading to formation of an enormous pouch across the belly. Men’s belt is a striped hand woven textile using plain cotton or wool on a card loom. It has fringes at both the ends. Kira is a rectangular ankle-length robe wrapped around the body, tied at the waist with a wide woven belt, and fastened at the shoulders by a pair of shoulder brooches called koma. A necklace-like chain called the jabtha holds together the pair of koma. Jabtha also makes an attractive ornament. Women’s kera is made of cotton woven on card looms with intricate silk designs of varying colours. Elderly women wear the broad kera in three folds. The female kera has also fringes at both the ends. The weft thread used is commonly thicker than the base fabric used. Women also wear a toego (short, loose jacket) over the kira. Toego can be made from any kind of material and be in any colour. Women also wear a garment called wonju under the kira. Commonly made from silk or polyester, the wonju is a loose, wrap-over long-sleeved blouse. The semi-nomadic herders of the high valleys of Merak, Sakten and Laya and some other ethnic communities do not traditionally wear the gho and kira. They have a unique dress, lifestyle and language, and their own weaving specialty. In an effort to preserve and promote cultural heritage, all Bhutanese are required to wear the national dress in government offices, schools and on formal occasions. Necklace: Traditionally, a necklace is also a part of the costume of a Bhutanese woman, and a woman who is not wearing a necklace is considered to be incompletely attired. Therefore, women make it a point to wear necklaces, especially during celebrative occasions. When a woman is dressing, she puts on her necklace at the very end, to complete the outfit. Necklaces of precious stones are passed down from mother to daughter. A traditional Bhutanese necklace consists of a string of beads of various stones such as coral, turquoise, onyx, pearl, agate, and many more. The necklace may reach almost to the waist. If the woman is very rich and possesses many precious stones, she will choose to wear more than one necklace at a time. Since public gatherings and celebrative occasions provide formal platforms for display of wealth and/or position in society, women make it a point to wear as much as they possess. Sword For hundreds of years Bhutan suffered from territorial invasion as well as internal strife and civil war, challenges which were countered by our pazaps (militia), and senior officials. In earlier times, those who performed well in battle were awarded a sword in recognition of their show of courage, valour and success. Once the monarchy was established those officials who served the king and the country with utmost dedication and patriotic zeal were awarded pata (sword) and red scarf (bura marp) in recognition of their selfless service. Awarding kabney along with pata is, therefore, the sole prerogative of the monarch. The awardee is then addressed as a ‘Drasho’, which literally means ‘the best’ as they are exemplary people. Therefore, this award symbolises secular responsibility — the preparedness to fight any enemy harming the interest of the Tsa-wa-sum (the king, the country, and the people) and to safeguard the country and its cultural traditions. Kabney When Gautama Buddha administered vinaya rules at the first sermon, the five chief disciples first wore kabney as a mark of respect to the Buddha. Later, when Guru Rinpoche (Guru Padsambhava) visited Bumthang in the 8th century and sowed the seeds of faith in the dharma, he instructed people not to take the lives of others, and gave ge-nyen vows (vow of lay devotee). He instructed his devotees to wear rezen or kabney as a sign of their having become followers of Buddhism or taking precepts. While dharma practitioners wore red coloured kabney as a mark of following the dharma teachings, ordinary people wore white coloured kabney as a mark of safeguarding the country — their secular duty. Today, we wear kabney as a part of our national dress in accordance with the code of driglam namzha. The smaller scarf worn by women is called rachu. Kabney is a large, fringed scarf (about 90 by 300 cm), which is worn with one half placed over the left shoulder and the other half drawn across the back, below the right arm and across the body, then caught in a loop made by folding the lower part of the left end over it and then throwing the left end over the left shoulder. When the kabney is correctly placed, the right side should loop down at equal level to the hem of the gho, and the two sides should come together at the left breast. There is considerable variation in how the kabney is actually worn, but what is written here describes how it should be worn. Bhutanese at all social levels wear kabney as a part of formal wear along with the national dress, gho. Wearing kabney marks respect for sacred objects and higher authorities, and symbolises the position or rank of officers serving in the government. Scarves worn by women in place of the male kabney are called rachu. These much smaller, colourful, decoratively woven scarves can be worn draped over both shoulders with the two fringed edges falling from the chest, or can be folded in half and placed over the left shoulder with the fringes falling from the chest. Women in general wear rachu by making a fold in the centre and placing the rachu over the left shoulder. Besides kabney and rachu, there are other variants used by religious practitioners. Those worn by lams and monks are called zen or rezen and the one worn over their rezen is called choe-gho. The rezen is worn all the time over the robe but the choe-gho is worn only during special religious occasions. Similarly, the one worn by ngagpas (tantric practitioners) is called ber or dagam; and the one used by togdenpas (adepts) is called rey or rekar and khamar. Kabney and rachu are worn to pay respect to sublime masters or leaders, and to sacred objects enshrined in the dzongs, monasteries and temples. They are also worn as a symbol of official position. The colour of the kabney determines the official rank of the bearer. Traditional Boot Bhutan’s traditional footwear is a kind of boot worn as high as the knee, the upper, cloth part of which is then held and tied by a narrow strap below the knee. Dra-lham, thru-lham karchung and tshoglham are three different types of traditional footwear and form an important part of Bhutanese national costume. Dra-lham are worn by the senior monks in the monasteries. They are similar to tshoglham but red in colour. Thru-lham karchung derives its name from the white colour of the ben (section just above the ankle) which is highly visible from a distance. The traditional boot worn by the general public is called tshoglham. The thil or sole of the boot used to be made from hard leather, but these days tshoglham usually have rubber soles. Above the sole, two layers of red and white leather (or rubber) make the drilden. Above the drilden is the ri karchu, on which comes the ben in different colours. The ben, is yellow, orange, red, blue or green according to the official position of the wearer. Yellow ben is reserved only for the king and the head abbot (the Je Khenpo); orange is for ministers, red is for senior officials, blue is for members of parliament (both houses) and green is for the general public. The cloth part above the ben is generally black or blue silk brocade. It is mandatory to wear thru-lham or tshoglham as a part of formal national dress during any formal occasions.

Wood carving is widespread in Kazakhstan as a traditional craft. The yurt’s frame is entirely made of wood, including the shanyrakh (cylindrical top part), uykh (poles that are embedded in the shanyrakh and fixed to keregeh, or greedwall) and sykhyrlauikh (doors). The internal furniture is made of wood as well. including abdireh or sandykh (chests), tosekaghash or keruet (bed), besyk (cradle), assadal (buffet), kebezheh (kitchen cabinet) and dastarkhan (low table). Kitchenware is partly made of wood, including kubyi (butter making jar), tegeneh (cups for kumis, fermented mare’s milk), ozhau (ladle), tostaghan (bowls), saptiyayak (water dippers), astau (bastau, a large plate for boiled meat) and tabakh (plate). As well, special wooden stands (zhukh ayakh) are carved for protection against humidity. Wood carving is also used for production of musical instruments, souvenirs and horse-saddles (yer). Wood carving is widespread in Kazakhstan as a traditional craft. The yurt’s frame is entirely made of wood, including the shanyrakh (cylindrical top part), uykh (poles that are embedded in the shanyrakh and fixed to keregeh, or greedwall) and sykhyrlauikh (doors). The internal furniture is made of wood as well. including abdireh or sandykh (chests), tosekaghash or keruet (bed), besyk (cradle), assadal (buffet), kebezheh (kitchen cabinet) and dastarkhan (low table). Kitchenware is partly made of wood, including kubyi (butter making jar), tegeneh (cups for kumis, fermented mare’s milk), ozhau (ladle), tostaghan (bowls), saptiyayak (water dippers), astau (bastau, a large plate for boiled meat) and tabakh (plate). As well, special wooden stands (zhukh ayakh) are carved for protection against humidity. Wood carving is also used for production of musical instruments, souvenirs and horse-saddles (yer). In forest-rich Eastern and Northern Kazakhstan, hardwood trees are used for carving, including red birch, maple, black or red alder, ash, nut tree, and oak. In Southern Kazakhstan, trees like elm, nut tree, pear, acacia, elaeagnus (djygyda), plane tree (chinara) are used for carving. As well, tree roots and knots are used. In South-East of Kazakhstan, elm, apple, nut tree, and buckthorn are usually used by woodcarvers. Table and chair legs, and some yurt parts are usually carved from pine, aspen or poplar. Other hardwood used for carving includes mulberry tree, and in softwood, juniper. Every wood carved product is decorated with ornament. Pattern and design of wood carved objects are also based on the balance of foreground and background, vertical symmetry, importance of central piece and border pattern. Traditional woodcarving includes several techniques and cuts, such as contour, relief and three-sided hollow carving. Relief carving is used for decorating chests, cabinets, doors, beds and kitchenware. Painted relief carving is used for decorating yurt doors and buildings of worship. Three-sided hollow craving is used for making geometric patterns. Cutout is mostly used for floral ornaments. To make dishes water resistant, they are soaked with boiled animal fat. Carved objects can be combined with paintings. Usually the background is unpainted, while the foreground is painted red, blue, green and yellow. Objects can also be decorated with inlaid bones, silver and other metals. Metallic details can be decorated with precious and semi-precious stones.

By the beginning of the 1970s the number of Kandakar masters and centers of engraving sharply reduced. Production of engraved items suspended in many centers of Uzbekistan. At present, however, centers of engraving are being revived and the system of apprenticeship is being re-introduced. Nowadays, the masters of traditional engraving work in such cities as Tashkent, Shakhrisabz, Qoqand, Ferghana, Bukhara and Khiva. Also a new phenomenon emerged, i.e. masters of engraving began to participate in designing the interiors of religious buildings (mosques, madrasahs), cafes and teahouses (which are usually designed in a traditional style). Changes are observed in the ornamental designing as well. For example, engravers try to improve further the designs of the items produced by them, by including new patterns and by applying the technique of incrustation with semi-precious stones. Within the framework of measures to create new jobs, develop tourism, promote small business and craft production, the state also pays attention to the development of this type of craft and art. This is manifested in tax preferences, the provision of free conditions and other innovations.

Jewellery art (kaz. 'zergerlyk') - is knowledge and skills in the field of traditional Kazakh art manufacturing of silverware. Since ancient times, there were produced a variety of silver jewelry: rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, pendants, buckles and much more. Especially highly prized precious silver vessels, such as jugs, bowls, mugs, decorated with engraved images. Archeological findings suggest that Kazakh people achieved a higher level in the development of jewellery making. Chylik findings were made using such techniques as stamping, engraving, true grain, incrustation (VII-V century BC); Issyk finding included “Golden warrior” (IV-III century BC); Berel kurgan findings (IV-VI century BC) from Eastern Kazakhstan are the testimony of a unique “animal style” in jewellery making. Jewellery is mainly made with silver. This craft is widespread across Kazakhstan but each region has its specifications concerning technique and design. Jewelry sets are made for men, women, and children; as well jewellery making is used for decorating musical instruments, household items, weaponry and horse gears; some made for rituals, others have symbolic or sacred value. Zergerlyk used for making details in men’s clothing, rider’s gear, horse riding gear, for example, horse equipment (er-tuman), traditional belts (beldyk, kyseh beldyk and kyemer belbeu), sword and knives’ handles and scabbards, powder flask (okhshantai), snuffboxes (nasybai). Women’s decorative items include forehead jewellery (shekelyk), braid jewellery (shashbau), earrings (syrgha), necklaces (alkhah, onirzhiyek, tumar), bracelets and cuffs (bilezyk), rings (zhuzyk), belt buckles (khapsyrmah), buttons (tyuime), personal hygiene items (tyss tazlaghysh, khulakh tazlaghysh), tools for crafting, spindle (urshykh), thimble (oymakh). Zergers also make child’s cradle set: bessyk (cradle), shumek (tube to flow urine), syldyrmakh (rattle), yemyzik (pacifier), tumar (amulet, charm) and other items. The jewelry pieces in the form of circle, oval, triangle, half oval, rectangular, petal, peak and beak are frequently combined to make a larger piece, for example pectoral decorative items onzhyrek and alkah are made of several triangle and rectangular plates, khudaghy zhuzik (a special large double ring presented when marriage brokerage occurs) and bes-blezyk (a bracelet connected with chains with three rings). Geometric style from Western Kazakhstan is famous for large-scale decorative items that are assembled from pre-made pieces that are joined together by soldering (plates, borders, solar symbols, grain). Most common techniques include true grain, plated filigree, stamping, embossing, engraving, niello, enamel, casting, forging, and incrustation with precious and semi-precious stones. Stone (tas) are sliced flat and are called eye (koz) as they considered to be protection charms. The most popular stone is cornelian (akhykh) as it symbolizes prosperity and joy.