Punakha Dromchoe

When it happens

The festival falls in the first month of the Bhutanese lunar calendar, so its dates shift from year to year.

It begins with fifteen days of prayers and mask dances inside Punakha Dzong, the Goenwang Drubchen. Three days of martial performances by pazaps (the performers who stage the mock siege) follow.

Its public phase is reported to be a three-day dromchoe. It is also reported to be followed immediately by the three-day Punakha Tshechu, six days in all.

The Punakha Dzongkhag Administration is reported to announce the dromchoe and the Punakha Tshechu together, under one heading.

Where it happens

The festival is held in the courtyard of Punakha Dzong. Parts of it take place at Kagye Lhakhang, at Machen Lhakhang, and on the cantilever bridge and riverbank of the Mo Chhu river. Two days beforehand, eight symbolic battle camps are set up, four on each side of the Mo Chhu.

Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal built the dzong (fortress). It was the capital and political base of the new state, and the seat of government until the mid-1950s. Its formal name is usually given as Pungtang Dechen Photrang (the Palace of Great Bliss). It is usually described as standing where the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu rivers meet, and as the winter residence of the central monastic body.

History

The festival is a theatrical re-enactment of the 1649 battle against Tibetan forces. It commemorates victory over the 17th-century invasions of 1634, 1639 and 1644, and the far larger campaign of 1648–49.

The tradition’s jewel is the Rangjung Kharsapani relic. A demand for its surrender triggered the invasions. The Tibetans besieged the dzong for three months. They fled, leaving their weapons behind, when news came that their general, Nangso Norbu, had abandoned the campaign.

The re-enactment recalls the Zhabdrung’s ruse. In it, men left the dzong by one gate and came back in by another with war cries, so the besiegers saw an endless stream of soldiers. In the same story, tantric rites made hay, trees and shrubs appear as divine soldiers.

The Zhabdrung led the first dromchoe in the Earth Ox Year, and it has been held every year since.

The pazaps are drawn only from the eight great Wang communities (Kabji, Toewang, Bjimed, Chang, Barpa, Toepa, Kawang and Mewang), with banner-bearers from Lingmukha. Each community fields a contingent that includes its zimpon (general). Traditionally 150 pazaps came each year. The National Assembly fixed the number at 148 in 1971, and it was later reduced further.

The pazaps are often described as wearing red-and-black battle attire. Their outfits are now provided by the government.

Rituals

The Goenwang Drubchen is the non-stop propitiation of the Drukpa Kagyu guardian deities Pal Yeshe Goenpo (Mahakala), Palden Lhamo and Goenpo Jarog Dongchen. Monks perform the Black Hat dance and other cham (sacred masked dances). The chief abbot and monks barely sleep across the fifteen days.

On the first day, the pazaps enter during the public cham (mangcham). The Je Khenpo (here standing in for the Zhabdrung) calls them to arms at Kagye Lhakhang.

The pazap performances bring war cries, whistling and firecrackers, the lengma dance, the zimpon’s sword dance (bey), and a mock siege staged inside and outside the dzong. On the final day, in the Final Showdown, the pazaps gallop to the river.

At the climax, Dumping the Jewel, a senior monk playing the Zhabdrung leads a procession (chibdrel) to the Mo Chhu. The monk makes a naga libation, then throws oranges and the Goenwang Drubchen’s mandala substances into the river in a simulated discarding of the jewel. Devotees then rush to collect what remains of the mandala substances, which are believed to be protective.

Being there

The Punakha valley has pleasant late-winter weather at this time of year.

One trip can usually take in both the dromchoe and the Punakha Tshechu, which are reported to run back to back.

The first day ends early, so the district adds community competitions in the late afternoon.