Tour Guide, Thimphu, Bhutan
| 6 mins read
This Dzong is the Bhutanese equivalent of Count Dracula’s castle. The present-day eerie tales that abound about the ruins of the Zhongar Dzong are as spectacular as its origin and history.
At a cursory glance, the spine-chilling claims of the people in the nearby villages’ seem real. The setting is truly other-worldly: the roughly six-acre confines of the castle with its gaunt reddish brown walls, fleetingly visible through a dense undergrowth of ferns and giant creepers, is out of bounds for the humans, lest misfortune visit upon the intruder or his family. Girding a mound that protrudes from the breast of a thickly forested mountain, the Dzong is otherwise left all alone, preserving its ancient secrets within its weather-beaten walls. But not so long ago, the fortress and its chieftains played a pivotal role in the kingdom’s power politics, the legacy of which has defined the history of eastern Bhutan and the nation as a whole.
History
While no written accounts remain of the Dzong’s history, an oral narrative has it that a king named Karpo Dung invited a famous architect from Paro, Zochhen Bala, to build a fortress which would eventually become the bastion of spiritual and temporal rule in the region. The architect carried out a visual surveillance of the area and reportedly came across a white stone, shaped like a bowl, on a mound just above the Kurichhu. He called the place Zhongkar (zhong=bowl and Kar = white) and decided to build the fortress there.
Another oral account claims that as Zochhen Bala neared Lingmithang, he saw a vision of a hill marked by a rock which resembled a zhong (wooden bowl). The name eventually became Zhonga (Zhong = bowl and Ga = comfortable), reflecting its location in a serene lower valley.
The next Je Bangki Jhung Dronmey, written by Thongkar Dorji of Chhimong in Pemagatshel, clims that the original name is Zhonggar (Zhong = bowl and Ga = comfortable); while Petsheling Trulku, who visited the Dzong, writes in his autobiography that the name is Zhongkhar (Zhong = bowl and Khar = house or Dzong).
When Zochen Bala was on his way to construct the Dzong, the Tsen (cliff deity) of Golongdrak (cliff of Golang) is supposed to have dispatched two of his deputies to kill the architect because of territorial greed. The assassins hid in the jungle to waylay and kill the architect, but Zongar, Bala took seven miraculously saved. On arrival in Zhongar, Bala took seven days to create a model of the Dzong from the stems of the Artemisia (khenpashing) plant.
Zochen Bala built the Dzong without any rough edges in the structures and without a single rock out of place. Four main structures, representing Ling Chenzhi or the Four Vast Lands, were built. Dratuel Dzong in the east, Chudzong Tsenkhar in the south, Bjachung Ta Dzong in the west, and Dhumrey Sipki Dzong in the north enclosed a towering utse in the centre. The Dzong’s courtyard was so long that it was often used as an archery range.
Meanwhile the king, worried that another Dzong of equal or greater magnificence might be built, cut off Zochen Bala’s hands during a farewell celebration arranged his journey back to Paro. Some say that he was thrown into the Kurichu and drowned.
Construction
The statues inside the Zhongar Dzong – which consisted of a life-sized Guru Padmasambhava, Cheku Dorji Chang (Vajradhara Buddha), Tilopa, Naropa and the Chochong Chamdrel Sum – are believed to have been sculpted by Lama Sherab Jungney of Khengkhar from herbal wood and clay, while Lama Sangay Zangpo of Kilikhar constructed the altar room. Though the two never met, the statues fitted exactly in the altar.
In the Male Fire Dog Year corresponding to the 11th Rabjung, King Ngawang Penjor and his elder brother, Nerychhen, installed sixty-one copper statues for the Dzong. A 108-volume collection of the translated words of Buddha (Kanjur), which took 108 clerks six months to copy, was also installed in the Dzong.
Following the destruction of Zhongar Dzong, most of the relics were moved to the present Mongar Dzong. Others were taken to Jaringkhashor Stupa in Kurizampa by Dzongpoen Kuenzang Wangdi and some to Dramitse Monastery. A copper pot, famed for its size and weight, was taken to Punakha Dzong by Chakpa Sangye, a Zhongar Dzongpon who later assumed the post of Druk Desi.
No authentic sources exist as to when Zhongar Dzong was built. Some say that the Dzong was built on the spot where Lama Ngagi Wangchuk had earlier constructed a small shrine. But it has been ascertained that the downfall of the all-powerful Zhongar king came about in the 17th century, when Desi Chogyal Minjur Tempa was at the pinnacle of his power. It is alleged that when the chieftain of Lhuntse, Trashigang, Trashi Yangtse and Zhemgang were defeated in battles and unified with the Western Bhutan, the ruler of Zhongar willingly offered the Dzong and his kingdom to Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal.
Another version has it that during the rivalry between Gyalpo Karpodhung and Gyal Tongden of Tongfu, the former sought the assistance of the powerful Trongsa Penlop. The forces of Trongsa Penlop defeated the Tongfu Gyalpo and took control of Zhongar Dzong and other kingdoms. It was at that time that the people of neighbouring Ngatshang and Themnagbi Villages, fearing the new ruler, migrated to Pame Koed in south-eastern Tibet.
Downfall and Legacy
Zhongar Dzong was first damaged by a fire and later destroyed by a powerful earthquake which lasted for seven days, thus the significance of the number seven in the Dzong’s history: Zochhen Bala took seven days to build the Dzong’s model; peseling Trulku took seven days to subdue the Tsen of Golongdrak; and, finally, an earthquake demolished it in seven days.
An emissary dispatched by Trongsa Penlop to assess the damage was bribed into giving a false report stating that the Dzong was destroyed beyond repair. Thereafter it was abandoned, and its functions shifted to present-day Mongar.
Some say that the earthquake was a blessing in disguise, as the place was believed to be infested with evils, rodents and diseases such as malaria.
Sources date the destruction of the Dzong to the year 1889, during the rule of Dzongpoen Namedla, an eccentric who left behind numerous stories about his amorous behavior and eccentricities.
Tales also abound of innumerable rats and fleas that harmed not only human beings but also animals. So when the Dzongpoen once asked his attendants how to get rid of the pests, one suggested burning the Dzong down. His order was followed and the Dzong vanished in a scorching blaze.
Today people stay away from the Dzong area. They believed that malevolent spirits and a gigantic snake still guard a trove of treasure in the Dzong.