Punakha Dromchoe

Punakha Dromchoe reenacts a specific 1639 victory over an invading Tibetan army, staged by the Pazaps militia in period-style armor inside Punakha Dzong, Bhutan's river-confluence fortress built by the Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. Its battle theater and serpent dance give it a more narrative, historical character than a typical tshechu, and it runs for three days immediately before the separate Punakha Tshechu at the same dzong.

Punakha Dzong, built at the confluence of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu rivers as Bhutan's second-oldest and most architecturally celebrated fortress, hosts the Punakha Dromchoe each February to commemorate a specific historical event: the 1639 repulsion of an invading Tibetan army during the rule of the Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the lama-statesman who unified Bhutan and built the dzong itself.