Cultural Sites
Important cultural sites of Paro include:
- Taktshang, or Tiger's Nest, the most famous monastery and ancient highlights for the people of Bhutan. It was founded as a meditating cave by the famous saint Padmasambhava in the early 8th century upon subjugating a demon and forcing him to take an oath to be the local protector of the region towards the very end.
- Kyichu Lhakhang, which along with Jambay Lhakhang in central Bhutan is the oldest temple in Bhutan, dating to the 7th century.
- Drukgyel Dzong, at the upper end of the valley, built to protect against invading Tibetans, but in ruins since a fire in the 1950s.
- Paro Town, the single market town in the dzonghag which is booming (by Bhutanese standards) due to an influx of tourist dollars.
- Rinpung Dzong, also known as Paro Dzong, the massive fortress/monastery which is also the administrative center of the dzonkhag. Scenes from the movie Little Buddha were filmed in and around this dzong.
- The National Museum of Bhutan, where visitors can learn about the culture of Bhutan.
Read more about this topic: Paro District
Famous quotes containing the word cultural:
“A culture may be conceived as a network of beliefs and purposes in which any string in the net pulls and is pulled by the others, thus perpetually changing the configuration of the whole. If the cultural element called morals takes on a new shape, we must ask what other strings have pulled it out of line. It cannot be one solitary string, nor even the strings nearby, for the network is three-dimensional at least.”
—Jacques Barzun (b. 1907)