When it happens
Paro Tshechu is held on the 11th to 15th days of the second month of the Bhutanese lunar calendar, which sets it in spring. Its ritual observances begin on the 10th day and conclude on the 16th. The public festival runs five days.
The first day is held inside Rinpung Dzong. After that, the festival moves to the Deyangkha ground below the dzong (fortress-monastery). On the fifth and final day, the Guru Thongdrel (a large appliqué scroll image of Guru Rinpoche) is unfurled at 3 am, in the pre-dawn dark, and returned to the dzong before sunrise.
Where it happens
Rinpung Dzong, also called Paro Dzong, is a hilltop fortress-monastery overlooking the Paro valley. Its full name, Rinchen Pung Dzong, means “Fortress on a Heap of Jewels”. It houses the district government offices and Paro’s monastic body of roughly 300 monks, set around a large courtyard with carved woodwork and murals. Rinpung Dzong is on Bhutan’s Tentative List for UNESCO World Heritage inclusion.
The festival leaves the dzong after the first day because the nangten (sacred relics) displayed for veneration that day cannot be taken out of it. The relics are reported to include a cymbal that Terton Sherab Mebar is said to have retrieved from Nob Tsho Na Pata, and that is believed to protect against rebirth in the lower realms.
History
Rinpung Dzong was built in 1646 under Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the 17th-century unifier of Bhutan, as a fortress and monastery guarding the Paro valley against Tibetan incursions.
The Guru Thongdrel is described as the largest thongdrel in the country. It is worked in silver embroidery and depicts Guru Rinpoche’s eight manifestations flanked by his two consorts.
Reigning monarchs have attended the festival’s opening and closing days.
Dances and rituals
On the opening day inside Rinpung Dzong, monks and lay dancers perform cham (sacred masked dances) and folk dances while the nangten are venerated.
The Guru Thongdrel is kept in the dzong. Before dawn on the final day, it is carried in a ceremonial procession to the Deyangkha ground and unfurled against a three-storied structure that it covers entirely. It is shown for only a few hours so that viewers can take its blessing (thongdrel means “liberation on sight”). After rituals and blessings, it is furled and carried back to the dzong before sunrise.
Being there
Thousands of Bhutanese pilgrims and international visitors attend. The festival falls in the spring peak season, and its dates are among the most sought-after of the year.
Rinpung Dzong is about a 15-minute walk from Paro town and within roughly an hour’s drive of Paro Airport. You can see it as you land.
To see the thongdrel, arrive at Deyangkha in the pre-dawn dark of the final day. Photography is generally allowed, but be respectful and avoid flash.
The viewing gallery at Deyangkha holds roughly 20,000 people, and demand routinely exceeds it. Many visitors sit on the hillside above, where views are obstructed, so at its peak the ground is effectively first come, first served and cramped. An expansion aims to level and enlarge the ground, add a pavilion for officials and the elderly, and raise capacity to as many as 100,000. It has been delayed.