Bhutan's Historic Site Burns Down

The Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, a four-century-old building in Bhutan, burned to the ground over the weekend. The fire began Sunday afternoon and burned through the night. One of the countries newspapers noted that by Tuesday, only the stone steps leading to the entrance of the building remained.

Built in 1638 by the nation's founder, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the dzong was part fortress, part monastery. Most recently, it was the district administration's headquarters. It was one of several such buildings that the ruler used to unify the country and gain control of the land, explained an article on CNN.

"The entire society has solidarity for the loss of one of the most important and oldest fortresses in our country," said Home Minister Minjur Dorji, who has been on the site for the last three days, when he spoke with CNN via telephone.

He said that Bhutan's leaders, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and his wife, have been there since the fire "trying to morally support the people."

Dasho Karma Ura, the president of the Center for Bhutan Studies in Thimphu, Bhutan's capital, said, "It's not just a Bhutanese architectural loss but for the whole Himalayan region Something could not have been built like that anywhere else."

Dorji said that the countries armed forces were able to save most of the dzong's sacred relics. The saved items, of which there are hundreds, could be as old as the 6th and 7th centuries. While all of the people that use the dozing and the majority of ancient items that were kept there were safe, the Bhutan newspaper, Kuensel, reported that numerous administrative documents were lost.

Although an investigation is still under way, a short circuit in the wiring is believed to have caused the fire, according to the minister. Since the dozings are made mostly of timber, the buildings have a history of burning down -- first because of the butter lamps that were used long ago and now, because of more modern technology. "We have electrified nearly all the dzongs, and short-circuits could come from poor quality of wiring," he said. "That's where we have our problems."

Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley published a message on Kuensel's website on Tuesday, saying that Wangdue Phodrong Dzong will be rebuilt just as the country did another dozing named the Paro Taktsang, also called the Tiger's Nest, after it had burned in a fire in 1998. The Taktsang, he wrote, "is in fact more cherished and revered today because the fire awakened all of us to the fragility and vulnerability of this most precious heritage."

Minjur Dorji didn't think it would be so simple. He said there was no financial estimate for the destruction of Wangdue Phodrang Dzong. "Dzongs are priceless," he said. "It is a big loss. Bhutan is a very small, tiny country. To reconstruct the same old structure at this point is going to be very difficult for our internal revenues to support."

He also said, however, that this most recent blaze will prompt Bhutan to created stricter policies to protect its centuries-old structures, such as adequate fire-extinguishing equipment, alternative building materials to the timber which comprises most dzong construction, high quality materials used in the electrification of the dzongs, and multiple exits.