The Folk Heritage Museum set at 2,250 meters (7,381 ft) above sea level in Kawajangsa, Thimphu, offers a unique glimpse into Bhutan’s mid-19th-century rural life. Inaugurated in July 2001 by Queen Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, this living museum resides in a traditional three-story rammed-earth home supported by wooden beams and shingled roofs. 

Visitors enter through a stone courtyard once used for storing firewood, farming tools, and grain. Though the home contains a long-drop toilet cubicle, such practices, including housing livestock indoors, are banned for safety.

The display features yak-hair hats, ghos, and kiras lined along the walls. Sacred Buddha images once used by families still grace the altar room. A classic water mill, over 150 years old, grinds grain on-site. Visitors can explore the hot-stone bath setup on the first floor—stones heated for hours are placed in a chamber to warm herbal water believed to hold healing properties.

From the second floor, a wooden balcony overlooks the side gardens, while a staircase leads up to the attic, where people dry food and store grain. Outside, laughter fills the air during archery demonstrations. Local artisans craft textiles and puffed rice pops in the kitchen, and distillers produce ara, the traditional liquor.

Though compact, the museum captures the heartbeat of rural Bhutan—profoundly spiritual, practical, and alive with tradition—offering a true immersion just minutes from modern Thimphu.