The Reading Room

The dzong, written down

Seven pieces on the fortress and the life around it. The building, the festivals, the flags on the parapet, and the small figures that sit above it all.

A Bhutanese dzong fortress with whitewashed walls and a gold finial, on a dark ground

Punakha Dzong, the fortress at two rivers

Bhutan's second oldest dzong, completed in 1637, held the seat of government for three centuries.

5 min read

The whitewashed tower of a dzong rising above a painted timber band

How a dzong is built

Whitewash, timber and stone, a central tower, and no nails in the old work.

4 min read

Dawn mist over forested Himalayan ridges above a river gorge

Trongsa Dzong, built along a ridge

The largest dzong in Bhutan follows the spine of a ridge above the Mangde Chhu.

4 min read

A stone courtyard with whitewashed walls and a flowering jacaranda

Tsechu, the days the courtyard fills

A tsechu is a district festival of masked dances, held on the tenth day of a lunar month.

5 min read

Prayer flags strung along a whitewashed parapet at dawn

Prayer flags, and what the wind does

A prayer printed on cloth is given to the wind, and the wind is expected to carry it onward.

3 min read

A weathered timber course hand painted in cinnabar pigment

Dochula, the pass of a hundred and eight chortens

On the road from Thimphu to Punakha, a ridge of white stupas looks out at the Himalaya.

3 min read

The raven crown

The raven is a protector figure in Bhutanese belief, and it sits on the king's crown.

3 min read