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Drukgyel
Dzong - Fortress of the Victorious Drukpa |
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Bhutan's
Culture Dzongs |
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Bhutan Information |
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Tales
around Druk Gyal Dzong |
The
location of our dzongs has itself been a natural advantage to us. Their
situation has at once tantalized and baffled tile invaders. Trashigang
Dzong, for instance, is said to have given a hard time to the Tibetans who overplayed their might and under-played their opponents'. They had
to confess:
Naam
dzong maarey, saa dzong rey. [Not a dzong in the sky, but a dzong, on the
earth].
Saa
dzong maarey, naam dzong rey. [Not a dzong on the earth, but a dzong in
the sky].
" >
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Inside the Druk Gyal Dzong before the fire The remains of the utse stands
today
Druk
Gyal Dzong has its share of interesting episodes in the general drama
of its trials and wins. In one instance, the invading Tibetans saw the
dzong from the vantage point of Sagala. The dzong appeared to be
attached to the spur of Jana, another hill-top in the direction
of Druk Gyal Dzong. As they came down, the dzong shifted to a distance
mirage-like. Tibetans called this mid-space Judae - meaning deception or
deceptive. The invaders called it a day.
In
another instance, as the attacking Tibetan horde came down, the Bhutanese
army appeared to welcome and treat them well as guests of honour. They
put up tents and made decorations and invited the Tibetan army to come
to wine and dine. However, no sooner had the Tibetans started to relax
and indulge themselves in the fun than their faces and hands started swelling,
slowly covering the whole body. |
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The plants and decoratives used by the
Bhutanese turned out to be the irritant par excellence - triconia- namey
shing - which made the Tibetans run helter-skelter. The Bhutanese then
had their way. It is believed that there was a lha tsho underneath the
utse. Next to the utse still stands a gyendorm shing which locals
say was home to a golden pig living beneath it.
top
| The
remains of the utse stands today |
One
of the special functions held at Druk Gyal Dzong was the three-day
annual prayer. The prayers would start on the 27th day of the 10th month
of the Bhutanese calendar and conclude on the 29th. It was the last
day of the prayers in 1951 that saw the face of the Victory Dzong change for ever.
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The
wind blew hard that night and toppled one of the butter-lamps in the utse.
The fire soon spread, fanned by the breath of the night wind.
To
make matters worse, it is believed that a bat's wings caught fire too.
As the bat flew madly about in panic, it lit fire wherever the wings touched.
Soon, the dzong was an inferno of blaze.
It
was one o'clock at night. By the time Gup Cheten saw the fire, it
had engulfed the whole dzong and reached the roof. Precious little could
be saved. It was the end of a great idea. Kuenyer Nyabchhe could
have been more vigilant that night. He might have made all the difference.
Might have... It was the time of Druzop Kawang Sanja.
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