Drukgyel Dzong

Drukgyel Dzong was built in 1649 at the head of the Paro valley to watch the route down from the north, and it stood as a working fortress until a butter-lamp fire destroyed it in 1951, after which it was left as a ruin for more than sixty years and photographed by every visitor as a romantic shell. Reconstruction began in 2016 to mark a royal birth and the anniversary of Guru Rinpoche, and the dzong has been rebuilt using traditional methods, so what stands now is new fabric on the old plan rather than the ruin most guidebook photographs show. On a clear morning Jomolhari, the sacred peak on the northern border, is visible up the valley behind it, which is the view that draws people to this end of Paro.

History

Tenzin Drukdra built the dzong in 1649 at the behest of the Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal to commemorate a victory over an invasion from Tibet, and as the second Paro Penlop he named it Drukgyal Dzong, the fortress of the victorious Drukpas. In the early 1950s fire almost completely destroyed it, leaving the stone and rammed-earth walls standing while the timber roofs, floors and frames burned, and in 2016, a day after the birth of the Crown Prince Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, the ground was broken for its rebuilding (Wikipedia, Drukgyal Dzong).

Highlights

• The rebuilt dzong - traditional construction on the seventeenth-century plan.
• The valley head - the strategic position watching the northern route.
• Jomolhari - the sacred peak visible up the valley on clear mornings.
• Traditional building methods - rammed earth, timber and stone as originally used.

When to go

March to May and September to November; clear mornings in autumn give the best chance of seeing Jomolhari, which is often clouded. Access depends on the state of reconstruction works, which have run in phases.

Practical notes

This is a reconstruction, not a ruin or an original building, and visitors expecting the famous ruined shell will not find it. Parts may be closed during works. The mountain view depends entirely on weather and is missed more often than not. The visit is short.

Nearby

Kyichu Lhakhang lies south; Tiger's Nest is on the western valley wall.

Key facts