Clock Tower Square is a square in Thimphu, Bhutan, and is the site of the famous tower with four clock faces. There are also many shops, hotels and restaurants surrounding the square.
Clock Tower Square is a square in Thimphu, Bhutan, and is the site of the famous tower with four clock faces. There are also many shops, hotels and restaurants surrounding the square.
The Clock Tower Square is located below Norzin Lam, Thimphu above the national football stadium in the heart of the capital.
The Clock-tower has a typical Bhutanese architectural outlook with rich Bhutanese carvings and paintings. There are traditional hand crafted dragons with golden paintings on all four faces of the tower which symbolizes the county as an independent dragon kingdom. The tower has beautiful paintings and carvings of flowers which add more magnificence to the tower. The shops, restaurants and hotels in the clock tower square have a blend of fine traditional and modern architectural Bhutanese design with multi-coloured wood frontages, small arched windows, and sloping roofs. The buildings around the square are all small three-storied structures. [1]
Water fountains and traditional Bhutanese Mani Lhalhor (prayer wheels) make the place an ideal location to catch up with Thimphu. Prayer wheels are seen almost everywhere around the country which is a Bhutanese way of life and belief that turning them brings good luck. [2] The square often serves as a platform for various events and activities such as fund-raising events, movie award ceremonies, trade fairs, live musical shows and many more. [3] There is also a small playground opposite to the tower where kids can play. The square has even played host to the Indo-Bhutan friendship car rally. [4] [5] [2]
Bhutan's early history is steeped in mythology and remains obscure. Some of the structures provide evidence that the region has been settled as early as 2000 BC. According to a legend it was ruled by a Cooch-Behar king, Sangaldip, around the 7th century BC, but not much is known prior to the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism in the 9th century, when turmoil in Tibet forced many monks to flee to Bhutan. In the 12th century, the Drukpa Kagyupa school was established and remains the dominant form of Buddhism in Bhutan today. The country's political history is intimately tied to its religious history and relations among the various monastic schools and monasteries.
Thimphu is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's dzongkhags, the Thimphu District. The ancient capital city of Punakha was replaced by Thimphu as capital in 1955, and in 1961 Thimphu was declared as the capital of the Kingdom of Bhutan by the 3rd Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.
Cradled in the folds of the Himalayas, Bhutan has relied on its geographical isolation to protect itself from outside cultural influences. A sparsely populated country bordered by India to the south, and China to the north, Bhutan has long maintained a policy of strict isolationism, both culturally and economically, with the goal of preserving its cultural heritage and independence. Only in the last decades of the 20th century were foreigners allowed to visit the country, and only then in limited numbers. In this way, Bhutan has successfully preserved many aspects of its culture, which dates directly back to the mid-17th century.
Dzong architecture is used for dzongs, a distinctive type of fortified monastery architecture found mainly in Bhutan and Tibet. The architecture is massive in style with towering exterior walls surrounding a complex of courtyards, temples, administrative offices, and monks' accommodation.
The national flag of Bhutan is one of the national symbols of Bhutan. The flag features a Chinese dragon from Bhutanese mythology. This alludes to the Dzongkha name of Bhutan – Druk Yul – as well as the Drukpa Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, which is the dominant religion of Bhutan.
Dechencholing Palace is located in Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the north of the Tashichho Dzong and 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of the city centre. It was built in 1953 by the third king of Bhutan Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.
Punakha is the administrative centre of Punakha dzongkhag, one of the 20 districts of Bhutan. Punakha was the capital of Bhutan and the seat of government until 1955, when the capital was moved to Thimphu. It is about 72 km away from Thimphu, and it takes about 3 hours by car from the capital. Unlike Thimphu, it is quite warm in winter and hot in summer. It is located at an elevation of 1,200 metres above sea level, and rice is grown as the main crop along the river valleys of two main rivers of Bhutan, the Pho Chu and Mo Chu. Dzongkha is widely spoken in this district.
Bhutanese art ༼འབྲུག་པའི་སྒྱུ་རྩལ༽ is similar to Tibetan art. Both are based upon Vajrayana Buddhism and its pantheon of teachers and divine beings.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Bhutan:
Paro Taktsang, is a sacred Vajrayana Himalayan Buddhist site located in the cliffside of the upper Paro valley in Bhutan. It is one of thirteen Tiger's Nest caves in historical Tibet in which Padmasambhava practiced and taught Vajrayana.
The first postage stamps of Bhutan were issued in 1962, the same year that the first motorable road was opened. Before that there was a mail delivery system in place for official mail using mail runners, and between 1955 and 1962 revenue stamps were accepted as payment for internal mail. With the opening up of Bhutan in the early 1960s, a formal postal system was introduced.
Simtokha Dzong also known as Sangak Zabdhon Phodrang is a small dzong. It was built in 1628 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, who unified Bhutan. It is the first of its kind built in Bhutan. An important historical monument and former Buddhist monastery, today it houses one of the premier Dzongkha language learning institutes. It recently underwent renovation.
The Punakha Dzong, also known as Pungthang Dewa chhenbi Phodrang, is the administrative centre of Punakha District in Punakha, Bhutan. Constructed by Ngawang Namgyal, 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, in 1637–38, it is the second oldest and second-largest dzong in Bhutan and one of its most majestic structures. The dzong houses the sacred relics of the southern Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, including the Rangjung Kharsapani and the sacred remains of Ngawang Namgyal and the tertön Pema Lingpa.
The Memorial Stupa, Thimphu, also known as the Thimphu Chorten, is a stupa in Thimphu, Bhutan, located on Doeboom Lam in the southern-central part of the city near the main roundabout and Indian military hospital. The stupa, built in 1974 to honor the third Druk Gyalpo, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck (1928–1972), is a prominent landmark in the city with its golden spires and bells. In 2008, it underwent extensive renovation. It is popularly known as "the most visible religious landmark in Bhutan". It was consecrated by Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje.
The Paro Chhu is a river of western Bhutan. It is a tributary of the Wong Chhu, which is known as the Raidak in its lower reaches.
Hotel Jumolhari is a hotel in Thimphu, Bhutan, located in the heart of the city on the Chang Lam at Clock Tower Square. The hotel is situated close by the Hotel Druk and overlooks the Changlimithang Stadium. The hotel, built in the Bhutanese style, inside and out, has 26 rooms and its restaurant is noted for its Indian cuisine.
The national symbols of Bhutan include the national flag, national emblem, national anthem, and the mythical druk thunder featured in all three. Other distinctive symbols of Bhutan and its dominant Ngalop culture include Dzongkha, the national language; the Bhutanese monarchy; and the driglam namzha, a seventeenth-century code on dress, etiquette, and dzong architecture. Natural symbols of Bhutan are its national flower, the Himalayan blue poppy; its national tree, the Himalayan cypress; its national bird, the raven; and its national animal, the takin.
The Dochu La( Dochu Pass, la means pass in Dzongkha) is a mountain pass in the snow covered Himalayas within Bhutan on the road from Thimphu to Punakha where 108 memorial chortens or stupas known as "Druk Wangyal Chortens" have been built by Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk, the eldest Queen Mother. Apart from the chortens there is a monastery called the Druk Wangyal Lhakhang (temple), built in honour of the fourth Druk Gyalpo, Jigme Singye Wangchuck; the open grounds in its front yard is a venue for the annual Dochula Druk Wangyel Festival. The pass with 108 memorial chortens is adjacent to the country's first Royal Botanical Park.
Changangkha Lhakhang is a compact temple complex located on the tip of a ridge that juts towards central Thimphu from the hills to the east. Founded in the 13th or 14th centuries, it is probably the oldest surviving temple in Thimphu. The main components and foundations of the monastery are extremely old, long predating the unification of Bhutan in the 17th century by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. The temple is often frequented by parents with small children seeking to obtain blessings from the protective deity of the temple, Genyen Domtsangpa, who is considered to be the birth deity and protector of children born in JDWNRH national referral hospital in Thimphu.