Tashichho Dzong

Where the King works and the monks spend the summer

Tashichho Dzong stands on the west bank of the Wang Chhu at the northern end of Thimphu, and it is the building most Bhutanese picture when they think of the capital. It holds the throne room and the offices of His Majesty the King, the cabinet secretariat and several ministries. It is also the summer home of the Central Monastic Body and the Je Khenpo, Bhutan’s chief abbot, who move here each summer from Punakha Dzong.

That mix of government and religion under one roof is the old Bhutanese idea of a dzong. In most dzongs today the offices are local ones. Here they are national, so the people crossing the courtyard with you might be monks, clerks or a minister.

From a small monastery to the seat of government

The story of the site starts in 1216, when Lama Gyalwa Lhanangpa built a small monastery here called Dho-Ngon Dzong, the “blue stone” dzong. In 1641 Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the lama who unified Bhutan, took it over and rebuilt it as a dzong. It has been Tashichho Dzong ever since, a name often translated as “fortress of the glorious religion”.

The building has had a hard life. A fire in 1772 destroyed much of it, more fires followed, and an earthquake in 1897 did serious damage. Each time it was repaired.

The dzong you see today is largely the work of the Third King, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck. Once Thimphu had become the capital, he had the dzong rebuilt and greatly enlarged from 1962 to house the government, on a different plan from the old one. It was consecrated in 1968. Only a few parts of the older dzong survive inside the new one, among them the central tower and the main protector temple.

What to look for

• The outline. Long whitewashed walls rise two storeys, with three-storey towers at the corners under tiered golden roofs. Seen from the road as you approach, it looks less like a fort than a small walled town.
• The central tower. The utse, the tall tower at the heart of the dzong, is one of the parts that survived from the older building.
• Woodwork and paint. Look up at the carved and painted window frames, brackets and beams. None of it is decoration for visitors. It is the same work you will see in any dzong or farmhouse, just on a grander scale.
• The scarves. Officials in the dzong wear a kabney, a long scarf over the gho, and its colour shows rank. Most men wear white; ministers wear orange; only the King and the Je Khenpo wear yellow. Your guide will put on a kabney too before you go in.
• Monks going about their day. In the summer months you will see young monks crossing the courtyard between prayers and classes. Keep a respectful distance and don’t photograph them without asking.

The Thimphu Tshechu

Once a year the dzong hosts the Thimphu Tshechu, the capital’s biggest festival, with several days of masked dances in honour of Guru Rinpoche. It follows the lunar calendar and usually falls in late September or early October; the Thimphu dzongkhag administration (opens in a new tab) has a short description. Check the year’s dates in our festival calendar, and read our first-timer’s guide to tshechu festivals before you go. Hotels in Thimphu fill up early in festival week, so if the tshechu is the reason for your trip, plan it well ahead or look at our festival tours.

Visiting: timings, dress and photographs

This is a working government building, not a museum. Visitors are let in only at set times, which change with the season and with official events, and parts of the dzong are always closed. We plan the visit around those times, and your guide will know on the day which parts are open.

• Guide. Visitors need a licensed guide to enter dzongs and monuments in Bhutan, as the Department of Tourism’s FAQs (opens in a new tab) explain. Your guide handles the formalities at the gate.
• Dress. Cover your shoulders and knees: long sleeves, long trousers or a long skirt, and no hats inside. Smart-casual is right. Our cultural etiquette guide has the details.
• Photographs. You can photograph the courtyards and the outside of the buildings. Photography is not allowed inside the temples.
• Inside the temples. Take off your shoes and walk clockwise. Step over the high wooden thresholds rather than on them.
• How long and how hard. Allow about an hour. The courtyards are flat and paved; the only effort is a few steep wooden stairs and those thresholds.

Getting there

The dzong is at the northern end of town, a short drive from the centre along the river, on the way towards Dechencholing. Your driver will drop you near the entrance.

It fits easily into a half-day in the north of the city. The Textile Museum at the Royal Textile Academy is close by, and the hill of Motithang, with the takin preserve and Changangkha Lhakhang, is a short drive up the slope. Buddha Dordenma sits at the opposite, southern end of the valley.

Tips from our guides

• Visit late in the day if you can. The low sun on the whitewashed walls and golden roofs gives the best light for photographs of the outside.
• Bring something with long sleeves, even in summer. It is the part of the dress code people most often forget.
• Keep your voice down in the monks’ courtyard. People here are working or praying.
• Pair it with Punakha. Seeing Tashichho in Thimphu and then Punakha Dzong a day later shows you the two halves of the monk body’s year. The drive over Dochu La links them.
• First day in town? Our first day in Thimphu article shows how the dzong fits with the rest of the city.