Rinpung Dzong, Buddhist monastery in Paro, Bhutan.

Rinpung Dzong is a fortress monastery with white walls, red bands, and sloping roofs that rises against mountain slopes overlooking the Paro valley. The complex functions as both a religious and administrative center, housing a substantial community of monks and important collections of religious artwork.

In the 15th century Lama Drung Drung Gyal built a small temple and then a five-storey fortress, Hungrel Dzong, on the crag of Hungrel. His descendants, the Lords of Hungrel, offered it to Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, who in 1644 dismantled the old structure and laid the foundations of a new dzong. It was consecrated in 1646 as the administrative and monastic centre of western Bhutan and took the name Rinpung Dzong.

The monastery serves as the stage for the annual Paro Tsechu festival, where masked dancers perform Buddhist stories through traditional choreography and music. These performances are rooted in local spirituality and draw both visitors and pilgrims from across the region.

The dzong stands above the Paro river, reached by a traditional covered cantilever bridge just below it; the seven-storey Ta Dzong watchtower, now the National Museum of Bhutan, sits on the hill above. The complex holds fourteen shrines and chapels, so allow time to move between courtyards and levels.

The 20-metre-wide Thongdrel survived a fire that destroyed most of the dzong's relics and statues before the first king's enthronement. It is unfurled before dawn on the fifteenth day of the Paro tshechu so that sunlight never falls on it. Devotees hold that paying homage to it brings spiritual merit and the potential for liberation.