Trongsa and Jakar Dzong.

Ø  Trongsa Dzong

Ø  Trongsa Dzong dates back to the time of Ngagi Wangchuck, the descendent of Ngawang Chhogyal.

Ø  As prophesied by Palden Lhamo, he visited central Bhutan in 1541 and mediated at the village of Yueli in Trongsa, a few kilometers above the present Dzong.

Ø  One night, he saw a lighted butter lamp below the ridge of the present Goenkhang, which house the guardian deities palden Lhamo and Yeshey Goenpo. 

Ø  On his visit to the site, he came across the footprints of a steed (horse) and the Lhatsho (sacred pond) of Palden Lhamo.

Ø  Considering the place to be a nye (sacred site), he built a meditation hut (tshamkhang).

Ø  As he mediated, Palden Lhamo appeared and prophesied that ‘in the future this place would play an important role in spreading the teachings of Buddha’.

Ø  After the incident, he constructed a small temple and named it as Mondrupde in 1543.

Ø  Many people from the area became his disciples and built small huts for themselves around the temple which soon began to resemble a small village and people called it Drongsar (new village). Later it changed into Trongsa.

Ø  Zhabdrung was not able visit Mondrupde. In 1647, he ordered the building of a Goenkhang which stands on the same site where Ngagi Wanangchuk built his temple in 1543.

Ø  Chhoegyal Minjur Tenpa was appointed as the first Trongsa Poenlop. The Dzong was named as Druk Minjur Chokhor Rabtentse on the order of Minjur Tenpa meaning the Dzong on the tip of a Dungkar (conch).

Ø  He expanded the dzong and built the Ta dzong (watch tower) in 1562.

Ø  The dzong was constantly being enlarged.

Ø  Tshokey Dorji restored the dzong and built Dukhor Lhakhang and Jigme Namgyal built Dechhog Lhakhang.

Ø  Jakar  Dzong

Ø  Ngagi Wangchuck left for Bumthang with an intention to construct a monastery on a rocky ledge, commanding the whole Chamkhar valley.

Ø  It is said that a white bird flew away from the site and perched atop the place where Jakar Dzong stands today.

Ø  This was considered a good omen and in 1549 Lam Ngagi Wangchuck constructed a small dzong to be used as a monastery. This small dzong was named as Jakar Dzong (the dzong of the White Bird).

Ø  Chhoegyal Minjur Tenpa enlarged the dzong and repaired the dzong as it was heavily damaged during Tibetan attack.

Ø  Desi Tenzin Rabyye rebuilt the Dzong completely and also built a tower over a lake behind the dzong which was called Chhu Dzong (water tower).

Ø  The dzong was also partly damaged during the Battle of Samkhar.