How to read a dzong

Every valley of consequence in Bhutan has a dzong. They are the largest buildings in the country, whitewashed, sloping inward as they rise, and built entirely without architectural drawings. The design is held by a master builder and passed on.

What they were for

Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, who unified Bhutan in the seventeenth century, built them as a defensive network against Tibetan invasion. Their placement is strategic: Punakha at the confluence of two rivers, Trongsa astride the only east–west route, Paro guarding the approach from the south.

How they are divided

Inside, a dzong is split in two by a central tower called the utse. One courtyard is monastic, housing monks who live and study there. The other is administrative, holding the district court and government offices. Both are in daily use, which is why visiting hours are restricted. People are working.

You are not walking through history. You are walking through an office and a monastery that happen to share a wall.

What to look for

The four guardian kings painted at the entrance, one for each direction. The wheel of life beside them. The absence of nails anywhere in the structure. And the wooden phalluses on farmhouse walls nearby, which are protective rather than comic and connected to the Divine Madman.

Etiquette

Shoulders and knees covered. Shoes off before entering temples. Photography is usually fine in courtyards and never inside shrines. Walk clockwise around religious structures, chortens, prayer wheels, the building itself. Your guide will not always say this out loud, so it is worth knowing.