Punakha Dromchoe

The winter capital, and a battle

Punakha Dzong was built by Ngawang Namgyal, the first Zhabdrung, in 1637 and 1638, on the tongue of land where the Pho Chhu and the Mo Chhu meet. Two years later a Tibetan force came for it, and for the relic kept inside — the Rangjung Kharsapani, which the Zhabdrung had brought out of Tibet and which stood for his right to rule. The Tibetans were defeated in 1639, and the Dromchoe re-enacts it.

The pazap

The warriors are called pazap. They are not a troupe: every year the gewogs of Punakha and Thimphu choose men to fill the ranks, in traditional dress, to re-enact the victory over the Tibetan forces in the time of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. The national broadcaster, reporting on the 2026 festival, counted 160 pazap from Wang Tshochen Gye and Lingmukha gewog alone, nearly half of them young, and described local leaders coaxing boys to come forward now rather than compelling men later, so that the tradition keeps going. Wikipedia's account of the dzong puts the full display at 136 pazap.

The oranges

The festival ends at the water. The Je Khenpo, the head of the monastic body, goes down to the Mo Chhu and throws oranges into the river; they stand for the Rangjung Kharsapani and are an offering to the nāgas. Mask dances follow, commemorating the building of the dzong, and then the three days of the Tshechu proper begin.

When it falls

The Dromchoe opens on the ninth day of the first month of the Bhutanese calendar, which lands in February or March. The Association of Bhutanese Tour Operators lists 13 to 15 February 2027 for the Dromchoe and 16 to 18 February for the Tshechu, under a heading that says tentative and a note that dates are tentative until the dzong confirms them. In 2026 the two ran from 23 to 25 and 26 to 28 February.