Paro

Paro lies in a cultivated valley of western Bhutan, surrounded by mountains and Buddhist religious sites. In the fifteenth century the local community offered a site at Hungrel to the lama Drung Drung Gyal, who built a temple and a small fortress there. His descendants later offered the fortress to Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, whose authority helped unify Bhutan. In 1644 he began replacing it with Rinpung Dzong, consecrated in 1646 as a monastic and administrative centre of western Bhutan. A watchtower above the dzong was completed in 1649. Nearby temples and monasteries, including the fifteenth-century Dungtse Lhakhang, add to the valley's long religious history. Fields and mountain routes supported communities around these institutions.