Thimphu

Thimphu is the capital of the Kingdom of Bhutan, and with a population of approximately 50 000 people

Prayer flags flutter in the wind as you reach Thimphu, the capital of a country with a style all of its own. At a height of 2,320 m (7,656 ft) Shangri-la, as it is sometimes known, is set in a long, wooded valley in the heart of the Himalayas, scrambling up the hillside from the Wang Chhu River.


A Tibetan monk made this country a Buddhist sanctuary in 1616, when the valley had already been settled for centuries. However, it was not until 1961, when the much-revered king named Thimphu as his new capital, that the city began to develop.

Until the late 1950s there were no roads, electricity, paper currency, or schools - indeed Bhutan was completely closed to outsiders until 1974, when the first Western visitors were invited to the coronation of the present Dragon King. The city consists of low-rise structures with large flat roofs, highly decorated wooden shutters and balconies, and paintings or Buddhist motifs on the white walls.

All new buildings must follow this traditional Bhutanese style. Lanes twist and twirl their way up the hill, all leading to the central Clock Tower Square, with its fountains and prayer wheels, restaurants and little shops. Alarge memorial shrine, containing religious paintings and tantric statues, dominates the town, busy with colourfully dressed people circling it, chanting mantras.

The most impressive building, the Trashicchoe Dzong, stands on the hill above - housing the throne room and the King's offices, it is also the summer residence of the Chief Abbott and his monks. It's expensive to visit Bhutan, and expensive to stay here - a deliberate policy to keep tourism at a low level.

Bhutan is poor in material goods, but boundlessly rich in other qualities contentment, inner peace and dignity. Children are taught in English, and many go on to foreign universities, bringing their learning back home.

A new plan for the city, called the Thimphu Structure Plan (TSP), was prepared and approved by the Council of Ministers in 2003, and subsequently by the elected Thimphu Municipal Corporation, that is implementing the plan.

The TSP is directed at protecting the fragile ecology of the valley, including its rivers and forests. Considering the rapid growth of automobiles and pressure on the public health infrastructure in the town centre, restrictions on plot coverage and building heights were imposed.

Critical to the plan are fifteen Urban Villages created through participatory land pooling, each having its own Village Square with amenities, garden, creche and an express bus link connected by the proposed Urban Corridor (under construction). The planning approach became widely known as the Principles of Intelligent Urbanism.

Thimphu’s weekend market is the biggest in Bhutan and well worth a stop. Although many of the crafts items are manufactured imports from India and Nepal the extensive area of fresh grains and vegetables is worth at least an hour’s walk-through.

This is still a world informed by Buddhist principles, and long may it last.