Thimpu

Thimphu lies in a Himalayan valley beside the Wang Chhu. Its great fortress-monastery, Tashichho Dzong, stands on the western bank of the river and became an important seat of Bhutan’s religious and civil authorities. The valley’s monasteries belonged to rival Buddhist traditions before the rise of the Drukpa state.

In 1641 Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal took over the dzong from the Lhapa Kagyu and reconsecrated it as Tashichho Dzong. Its incorporation into the Zhabdrung’s government formed part of his consolidation of authority in western Bhutan and its mountain valleys. The monastic community moved seasonally between the Thimphu valley and Punakha, whose warmer valley provided a winter seat. Together these fortress-monasteries embodied a government in which Buddhist institutions and political power were closely connected.