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Punatang Dewa Chhenbi Phodrang(Punakha Dzong), The palace of great happiness

Bhutanese architecture is one of the most striking feature of the country. The style of architecture depends on complex topography and climatic conditions of Bhutan. Architectural system of Bhutan remains the same since the earliest times and has its origin from Tibetan architecture. Inspired by older forms and ideas, architects of Bhutan keeping in mind developed a particular style for their country and revolutionized unique dzongs (Dzongkha: རྫོང,'Fortress'), temples, and monasteries while maintaining a same architectural style throughout the country. The monasteries in Bhutan were built between thirteenth to seventeenth centuries and Ngawang Namgyel (Dzongkha: ངག་དབང་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་) was the one to build so many dzongs and fortresses in the country.

Traditional Bhutanese houses serve as a home for the family, a shelter for domestic livestock, a place for weaving and other household chore and also a religious space. The architecture of traditional houses in Bhutan has an open yard in front of the house, which is used to grow vegetables and other agricultural purposes, drying things, as a shelter for the animals and other functions that need to be performed in the open. Most of the houses are two or three stories high, and each story has a particular function. The architecture style and the type of material required varies according to the geographical location.

Dzongs originated in the 12th century, and their main function was to defend the invasion and serve as the seat of central authority. As a result, they were mostly built on a mountainside, overlooking a valley or where two rivers meet, from where the enemy can enter. The main architectural elements of a Dzong are its massive stonewalls leaning slightly inwards, composite woodwork on windows and wooden decorations.

Religious structure involves Lhakhang (Dzongkha: ལྷ་ཁང་,'Buddhist Temple'), Monasteries and Chortens (Dzongkha: མཆོད་རྟེན,'Stupa'). Buddhist temples in Bhutan are often relatively simple single-story structures surrounding a small courtyard. Bhutan being a religious country, thousands of chortens can be found all over the country, at crossroads, and on high mountain passes. There is a different type of chorten, and they are Nepalese style, Tibetanstyle, and pure Bhutanese square style.

Modern architecture is the fusion of Bhutanese traditional architecture and western architecture. The buildings are constructed of concrete, glass, and steel. Bhutan being a small country, the population is less and faces the shortage of laborers. So most of the workers are Indian laborers.

Traditional Architecture

Ordinary house with three stories and surrounded by a small field

The Driglam Namzha(Standard Tibetan: སྒྲིག་ལམ་རྣམ་གཞག) codifies the same traditional rules for the construction of the traditional as well as modern buildings.The traditional houses are usually of two or three stories, and each level has unique function. The ground floor is simply an area to keep animals, the first story consists of living quarters, the family room, the kitchen while the religious rituals are performed in the upper story, which is considered sacred.

The unique elements of the architecture of traditional Bhutanese structures are as follows:

 The use of gentle tapering dense walls made of stone and whitewashed in lime.

 The light “flying” gable timber roofs that hover in layers above the building.

 The design of light frames with elaborate timber window sand Rabsel (Dzongkha: རབ་གསལ་) built on the top floors over dense walls below.

 The multi-tiered trefoil timber windows with Horzhu (Dzongkha: ཧོར་གཞུ།).

 The colorful timber lintels and cornices knew as Bogh (Dzongkha: བོག་) which mark the level and crown of each floor, window, and door.

 The touch of local artists in the colorful floral, iconography and spiritual paintings that beautify the interiors and the elevations of buildings.

Thatched bamboo house in the southern region

The architecture style of ordinary houses varies according to location (landscape). In the lower altitudes areas(southern region), thatched bamboo houses are familiar, in higher altitude, simple stone structures are common. Walls of ordinary homes in the western part are most frequently rammed earth walls, pounded into wooden frames for up to a week and then rendered with lime. Completed mud walls are either left naturally colored or whitewashed.

The eastern valleys of Bhutan tend to be steep, narrow valley with settlements dug directly into mountainsides. So walls are more often made of stone in these regions

Dzong Architecture

Chokhor Rabtentse Dzong(Trongsa Dzong), The largest dzong fortress and largest dzong at a striking location.

The the dzong is one of the unique architectural forms in Bhutan. Dzongs were built mainly in the seventeenth century for fortification. Dzongs were usually made out of stone and mud, and timber was used for their superstructure. The pillars supporting the colonnade are richly decorated with a design such as clouds, lotus flowers and so on. A wide red stripe called the khemar (Dzongkha: སྐེ་མར) just below the roof the building shows the religious nature of the building. The roofs of the dzong have a mild slope and are raised one or two meters high from the last story.

Dzongs are divided into two main areas: one for religious purpose and the other one for government offices. There is a central courtyard, surrounded by multi-storied rooms for monks' living quarter and classrooms for learning.

Religious Architecture

Lhakhang located in Lobneykha

Under religious architecture it is divided into three sections:

Buddhist temple(Lhakhangs)

They are often relatively simple single-story structures surrounding a courtyard. They are often decorated with a red stripe along the upper walls and gilded copper roofs. There is even a waiting room at the entry.. Internal walls and assembly halls of Buddhist temples are decorated with painted and decorative design painted using the technique frescoes and murals. Religious themes dominate, especially the life of Buddha, the legends of Guru Padmasambhava, and protective deities.

Monasteries

Monasteries follow two architectural styles: cluster and dzong. Cluster types represent the oldest tradition of monastic architecture in Bhutan, in which one or two temples are surrounded by a group of housing for its monks.

Dochula Pass, A mountain pass on the road between Thimphu and Punakha

Stupa(Chortens)

They were initially built to keep the relics of the Buddha and other important Buddhist saints. Pilgrims and the Bhutanese people go around chortens in order to gain merit. Massive Bhutanese domed chorten are made out of stone and whitewashed in the Nepalese style, and smaller flared chortens in Tibetan style. Pure Bhutanese style is a square stone pillar accompanied by a ball and crescent to represent the sun and moon. This Bhutanese style represents a kind of reduced form of the classical stupa.

Modern Architecture

Taj Tashi, The striking facade is a mesmerizing blend of modern design and Bhutanese dzong architecture.

Modern buildings in Bhutan are constructed of concrete, glass, and steel. According to Driglam Namzha, they still must include some characteristics of traditional Bhutanese architecture. For example, a simplified version of the label is fashioned out of concrete around conventional aluminum window suites.

Because of the shortage of Bhutanese laborers, most of the construction workers are Indian laborers who typically eat, sleep and wash in temporary huts on the building site where they work. They come from the poorer states of India and by coming to Bhutan, they can earn up to 3 times what they would back home. The women are often seen sifting and shifting the gravel by hand and sometimes with babies carried to their backs as they work, while the men are seen laying and leveling the concrete.

References

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