Bhutan - Lindsay Brown [113]
Because it is on an exposed promontory overlooking the river, Wangdi is usually windy and dusty, particularly in the afternoon.
Orientation
The town’s only hotel and the dzong are down a side road to the southwest of the central bazaar. Nearby is the Radak Naktshang, the town temple. The weekly vegetable market is far below the bazaar on a side road.
Information
Bank of Bhutan ( 9am-1pm Mon-Fri, to 11am Sat) Changes cash and travellers cheques. It’s in Bajo village, just north of the planned new town, 2.5km from Wangdue Phodrang.
Post Office ( 8.30am-1pm & 2-5pm Mon-Fri, 8.30am-1pm Sat) In a courtyard just off the main traffic circle.
Sights
WANGDUE PHODRANG DZONG
Wangdue Phodrang Dzong was founded by the Zhabdrung in 1638. It sits atop a high ridge between the Punak Tsang Chhu and the Dang Chhu. It is obvious that the site was selected for its commanding view of the valleys below. Legend relates another reason for choosing this spot: as people searched for a site for the dzong, four ravens were seen flying away in four directions. This was considered an auspicious sign, representing the spreading of religion to the four points of the compass.
Wangdi is important in the history of Bhutan because in the early days it was the country’s secondary capital. After Trongsa Dzong was established in 1644 the penlop of Wangdue Phodrang became the third most powerful ruler, after the penlops of Paro and Trongsa. The dzong’s position gave the penlop control of the routes to Trongsa, Punakha, Dagana and Thimphu. It was repaired after a fire in 1837 and again after it was severely damaged in the 1897 earthquake.
The dzong’s complex shape consists of three separate narrow structures that follow the contours of the hill. The buildings are refreshingly unrestored, with a wooden roof still held in place by large stones, and the occasional lost chicken wandering across the empty courtyards.
There is only one entrance, fronted by a large darchen (prayer pole) and reached by a road that leads downhill from the bazaar. The cacti that cover the hillside below the dzong were planted long ago to discourage invaders from climbing the steep slope.
The administrative portion surrounds a large flagstone-paved dochey at the north end of the dzong. The utse divides the two portions of the dzong. The Guru Tshengye Thondrol, depicting Guru Rinpoche, is unfurled here each year in the early hours of the final day of the autumn tsechu festival. As you detour around the utse you can peer through arrow slits into the valley below. The main assembly hall in the far south of the dzong features a central Dusum Sangay – the past, present and future Buddhas.
RADAK NATSHANG
Just behind the bazaar, by the tall cypress trees of the district court, is this timeless 17th-century temple. The temple is dedicated to an ancient warrior king and there’s a large collection of helmets, arrows and shields in the anteroom. Inside are five versions of the local protector deity, as well as a statue to the far right of a tshomen (mermaid), who lived in the river and was an obstacle to the construction of this building. Make an offering and roll the chapel dice and the resident monk will read your future.
RINCHENGANG
From the dzong you can clearly see the compact village of Rinchengang on the opposite side of the river. Many of the people who live in this traditional village work as stonemasons, and the services of Rinchengang’s craftsmen are sought after for the construction of dzongs and lhakhangs. While Rinchengang is believed to be one of the oldest villages in Bhutan, electricity, water and schools only arrived here in the early 1990s. There’s a small lhakhang at the top of the village.
Sleeping
There’s not a great deal of demand for