Watchtower Ta Dzong now houses the National Museum.

Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images

National Museum

Top choice


Perched above Paro Dzong is its ta dzong (watchtower), built in 1649 to protect the undefended dzong and renovated in 1968 to house the National Museum. The unusual round building is said to be in the shape of a conch shell, with 2.5m-thick walls. The ta dzong suffered damage in the 2011 earthquake but reopened in 2019 as the nation's premier museum.

The 4th-floor entrance kicks off with a description of early history that perfectly illustrates how magic and science are inseparable in Bhutan. Information on Stone Age tools sits next to descriptions of battles between gods and demons. The thangka gallery has displays on the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism (Sakya, Nyingma, Gelug and Drukpa). Next is the Namse Phodrang with its collection of bronze statues, notably of the god of wealth Kubera, and it’s then down to a collection of relics discovered by Bhutan’s treasure finders, featuring 15 links from Thangtong Gyalpo’s original iron bridge at Tamchog.

Go down again to the displays on Bhutanese dress and Bhutan’s ties with Tibet. The 3rd floor has a royal gallery before it’s down once again to the museum's most revered treasures, including a stone egg laid by a mule and a ritual dagger belonging to the protector Dorje Lekpa. An underground tunnel is said to lead from the watchtower to the water supply below.

Cameras are not allowed inside the museum, but you can photograph the ta dzong and surrounding grounds. More exhibits (festival masks, natural history and temporary exhibits) are on display in an adjacent annex. The museum plans to raise entry fees to Nu 200/500 for Indians/foreigners.

Driving to the museum involves a 4km loop into the Dop Shari valley. After visiting, you can walk down a path from the museum to the dzong and back to the town, enjoying good views of the valley and of the Ugyen Pelri Palace. Alternatively, you can start the excellent hike to Zuri Dzong from just above the museum.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Festival Ground

0.16 MILES

Outside Paro Dzong, to the northeast of the entrance, is this stone-paved area where masked dancers perform the main dances of the Paro tsechu. A thondrol…

2. Paro Dzong

0.19 MILES

Paro Dzong ranks as a high point of Bhutanese architecture. The massive buttressed walls that tower over the town are visible throughout the valley,…

3. Gönsaka Lhakhang

0.29 MILES

This charming temple on the hillside above Paro actually predates Paro Dzong. Don't miss the meditation cave of Pha Drun Drung, the founder of the dzong…

4. Nyamai Zam

0.34 MILES

Below Paro Dzong, this traditional wooden covered bridge is a reconstruction of an older bridge, which was washed away in a flood in 1969. Earlier…

5. Ugyen Pelri Palace

0.38 MILES

The secluded wooded compound of the Ugyen Pelri Palace, built by the Paro penlop Tshering Penjor in the early 1900s, is now a residence of the Queen…

6. Six Chortens

0.42 MILES

This line of six chortens marks the entrance into Paro town.

7. Zuri Dzong

0.47 MILES

Zuri Dzong was built in 1352 as a fort and the five-storey main building is still well protected by double walls and a bridge. There are some particularly…

8. Five Chortens

0.49 MILES

On the road at the foot of the Paro Dzong, beside the Ugyen Pelri Palace, are five square chortens that were built in memory of the first king of Bhutan,…