Wangdue Tshechu
The rebuilt dzong takes back its courtyard each September.
Three days of cham at the ridge dzong rebuilt after the 2012 fire — a festival that doubles as a valley's homecoming.
When Wangdue Phodrang Dzong burned in 2012, the district lost its centre; the rebuilding, timber by timber in the old manner, took the better part of a decade. The tshechu in its restored courtyard carries that weight — this is a festival in a building the whole valley willed back into existence.
Wangdue sits at the crossroads of every central route, so the tshechu folds easily into journeys continuing to Phobjikha or Bumthang. The famous Raksha Mangcham, the dance of the judgement of the dead, is performed here with particular force.
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