Dzong, bridge and blossoming jacarandas by Deepforest. Punakha is the administrative center of Punakha dzongkhag, one of the 20 districts of Bhutan. Punakha was the capital of Bhutan and the seat of government until 1955, when the capital was moved to Thimphu. It is about 72 km away from Thimphu and it takes about 3 hours by car from the capital Thimphu.

(Reuters) FOR CENTURIES a monastic fortress in Bhutan’s Himalayas has sheltered ancient Buddhist relics and scriptures from earthquakes, fires and Tibetan invasions. Now the lamas here may have met their match – global warming. At least 53 million cubic metres of glacier melt is threatening to break the banks of a lake upstream in the Himalayan peaks and provoke a “mountain tsunami” in Punakha valley. The government is pressing the lamas, so far unsuccessfully, to transport relics to a nearby hilltop for safekeeping. Massive flooding could inundate these valleys, which hold about a tenth of Bhutan’s population, by 2015. “Pollution has disturbed our deities,” Leki Dorji, a red-robed lama, said in a courtyard as monks chanted mantras. “It’s for that that the rains have not come on time, that we have not had snow for five years.” … The government has identified 26 glacier lakes in Bhutan at risk of what is called Glacier Lake Outburst Floods, when accumulated melt breaks its moraine banks. Scientists say that glaciers in Bhutan are retreating by about 30m a year. … The monastery was damaged by a similar glacier outburst in 1994. Then monks gathered to pray for the safety of their treasures, especially the most precious relic – the Rangjung Kharsapani, an image of the deity of compassion. At least 20 people in the valley were killed then. The next torrent of water would be three times greater. “We hope to convince the monks to move the relics. If the next lake bursts, you can imagine what it would trigger,” Thinley said. “Our valley, settlements, or farms would be swept away.” …

Glacier melt is threat to sacred treasures