Dzong architecture

Dzong architectureis used fordzongs,a distinctive type of fortified monastery (Dzongkha:རྫོང,Wylie:rdzong,IPA:[dzoŋ˩˨])architecturefound mainly inBhutanandTibet.The architecture is massive in style with towering exterior walls surrounding a complex ofcourtyards,temples, administrative offices, and monks' accommodation.

Tashichho DzonginThimphu

Characteristics

Distinctive features include:

• High inward sloping walls of brick and stone painted white with few or no windows in the lower sections of the wall
• Use of a surrounding red ochre stripe near the top of the walls, sometimes punctuated by large gold circles
• Use of unique style flared roofs atop interior temples
• Massive entry doors made of wood and iron
• Interior courtyards and temples brightly colored in Buddhist-themed artmotifssuch as theashtamangalaorswastika

Regional differences

Bhutan

See also:History of Bhutan

Dzongs serve as the religious, military, administrative, and social centers of their district. They are often the site of an annualtsechuor religious festival.

Typically half of the rooms inside a dzong serve administrative purposes (such as the office of thepenlopor governor), while the other half is dedicated to religious purposes, primarily the temple and housing for monks. This division between administrative and religious functions reflects the idealizedduality of powerbetween the religious and administrative branches of government.

Tibet

Gyantse Dzong

Further information:List of administrative divisions of the Tibet Autonomous Region

Tibet used to be divided into 53 prefecture districts also calleddzongs.There were twodzongpönsfor each dzong, alamaand a layman. They were entrusted with both civil and military powers and are equal in all respects, though subordinate to the generals and the Chineseambanin military matters,until the expulsion of the ambans following theXinhai Revolutionin 1912.Today, 71countiesin theTibet Autonomous Regionare calleddzongs in theTibetic languages.

Siting of dzongs

Trongsa Dzong,the largest dzong fortress inBhutan.

Bhutanese dzong architecture reached its zenith in the 17th century under the leadership ofNgawang Namgyal,the 1stZhabdrung Rinpoche.The Zhabdrung relied on visions and omens to site each of the dzongs. Modern military strategists would observe that the dzongs are well-sited with regard to their function as defensive fortresses.Wangdue Phodrangdzong, for instance, is set upon a spur overlooking the confluence of theSankosh(Puna Tsang) andTangRivers, thus blocking any attacks by southern invaders who attempted to use a river route to bypass the trackless slopes of the middle Himalayas in attacking central Bhutan.DrukgyelDzong at the head of theParovalley guards the traditionalTibetaninvasion path over the passes of the high Himalayas.

Dzong atWangdue Phodrang,Bhutan.

Dzongs were frequently built on a hilltop or mountain spur. If the dzong is built on the side of a valley wall, a smaller dzong or watchtower is typically built directly uphill from the main dzong with the purpose of keeping the slope clear of attackers who might otherwise shoot downward into the courtyard of the main dzong below (see image at head of article).

Punakha Dzongis distinctive in that it is sited on a relatively flat spit of land at the confluence of theMoandPhoRivers. The rivers surround the dzong on three sides, providing protection from attack. This siting proved inauspicious, however, when in 1994 a glacial lake 90 kilometers upstream burst through itsice damto cause a massive flood on the Pho Chhu, damaging the dzong and taking 23 lives.

Construction

Roof construction at Tongsa dzong.

By tradition, dzongs are constructed without the use of architectural plans. Instead construction proceeds under the direction of a highlamawho establishes each dimension by means of spiritual inspiration.

Dzongs are built usingcorvéelabor applied as a tax against each household in the district. Under this obligation each family provides or hires a decreed number of workers to work for several months at a time (during quiet periods in the agricultural year) in the construction of the dzong.

Dzongs comprise heavymasonrycurtain walls surrounding one or more courtyards. The main functional spaces are usually arranged in two separate areas: the administrative offices; and the religious functions - including temples and monks' accommodation. This accommodation is arranged along the inside of the outer walls and often as a separate stone tower located centrally within the courtyard, housing the main temple, that can be used as an inner defensible citadel. The main internal structures are again built with stone (or as in domestic architecture by rammed clay blocks), and whitewashed inside and out, with a broad redochreband at the top on the outside. The larger spaces such as the temple have massive internal timber columns and beams to create galleries around an open central full height area. Smaller structures are of elaborately carved and painted timber construction.

The roofs are massively constructed inhardwoodandbamboo,highly decorated at theeaves,and are constructed traditionally without the use of nails. They are open at the eaves to provide a ventilated storage area. They were traditionally finished with timbershinglesweighted down with stones; but in almost all cases this has now been replaced withcorrugated galvanised ironroofing. The roof of Tongsa Dzong, illustrated, is one of the few shingle roofs to survive and was being restored in 2006/7.

The courtyards, usually stone-flagged, are generally at a higher level than the outside and approached by massive staircases and narrow defensible entrances with large wooden doors. All doors have thresholds to discourage the entrance of spirits. Temples are usually set at a level above the courtyard with further staircases up to them.

• 
  Punakha Dzongand theMo Chhu
• 
  Simtokha DzongnearThimphu
• 
  Courtyard and tower ofRinpung DzongatParo

Modern architecture in the dzong style

Larger modern buildings in Bhutan often use the form and many of the external characteristics of dzong architecture in their construction, although incorporating modern techniques such as a concrete frame.

University of Texas at El Paso

The campus architecture of theUniversity of Texas at El Paso(UTEP) is a rare example of dzong style seen outside the Himalayas. Initial phases were designed by El Paso architectHenry Trost,and later phases have continued in the same style.

• 
  To the left is the College of Business, to the right the College of Engineering
• 
  UTEP's Academic Services Building
• 
  UTEPLibrary

UNESCO tentative listing

In 2012, the Bhutanese government listed five dzongs to its tentative list forUNESCOWorld Heritage Siteinscription in the future. The five dzongs arePunakha Dzong,Wangdue Phodrang Dzong,Paro Dzong,Trongsa Dzongand Dagana Dzong.

See also

• Architecture in Tibet
• Architecture of Bhutan
• Driglam namzha

Further reading

• Amundsen, Ingun B (Winter 2001)."On Bhutanese and Tibetan Dzongs"(PDF).Journal of Bhutan Studies.5:8–41.
• Bernier, Ronald M. (1997).Himalayan Architecture.Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.ISBN0-8386-3602-0.

External links

• Dzongs of Bhutan
• Designs for Trashi Chhoe Dzong Precinct, Thimphu, Bhutan