Mongar Dzong

Mongar Dzong is one of the newest fortresses in Bhutan, built under the second king, Jigme Wangchuck. Sources give the year as 1930 and as 1953 and do not agree, so it is safest to say the first half of the 20th century.

What is not in doubt is how it was built: in the traditional way, without nails and without drawn plans, by craftsmen working from knowledge passed down rather than paper. It has two entrances, and the monastic body and the district administration share a single courtyard, which is unusual. It stands above the trading town of Mongar, the main stop on the long east west highway.