Wangdue Phodrang Dzong

Wangdue Phodrang Dzong occupies a long narrow ridge above the confluence of the Punak Tsang Chhu and the Dang Chhu, a strategic position that made it one of the more important fortresses of the seventeenth-century state, founded in 1638 by the Zhabdrung. Its shape follows the spur, so it is unusually elongated. In June 2012 the dzong caught fire and was almost entirely destroyed; the contents were largely saved but the structure was lost, and a reconstruction using traditional methods and materials has been carried out over the following decade to return it to its original form. What stands today is therefore new fabric on the old footprint. The Wangdue Tshechu is held in autumn. The town below is the junction for roads east and south.

History

Legend says an old man at Chimi Lhakhang told Ngawang Namgyal that a dzong on the neck of a ridge shaped like a sleeping elephant would let him unify the country, and he founded it in 1638 above the meeting of the Puna Tsang and Dang rivers, completed in 1640 under Penlop Nyama Kukye. Tenzin Rabgye enlarged it in 1683 and Sonam Lhendrup renovated it in 1767; it was restored after a fire in 1837 and partly damaged by the earthquake of 1897, and after a fire from a short circuit gutted it on 24 June 2012, rebuilding began in 2014 with funds from the King, the Indian government and Bhutanese donors (Wikipedia, Wangdue Phodrang Dzong).

The main sights

• The ridge-top plan - the elongated dzong following the narrow spur.
• Reconstruction - traditional building methods used through the rebuild.
• The river confluence - two valleys meeting below the walls.
• The Wangdue Tshechu - the autumn festival held at the dzong.

When to go

March to May and September to November. The tshechu falls in autumn on lunar dates. Access depends on the state of the reconstruction and on administrative use, so it is worth confirming before making a detour.

Practical notes

This is a rebuilt structure, not the historic fabric, which visitors who knew it before 2012 find striking. Parts serve as district administration and are closed. Photography inside temples is forbidden. The town below is functional and unattractive.

Nearby

Rinchengang is across the valley; Punakha lies north.

Key facts