Capital in white, red and gold
Thimphu
Bhutan's capital keeps its buildings in traditional white, dark red and gold, with painted woodwork.
Why Thimphu is monastic red
Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan, set in a wooded valley at about 2,300 metres. The seat of government is Tashichho Dzong, a fortress with white walls, a red band beneath the eaves and golden roofs. Monks in dark red robes share it with civil servants. Colour also shows rank in Bhutan. With national dress men wear a long scarf called a kabney: white for ordinary citizens, orange for ministers, and saffron yellow for the King and the head of the monastic body alone. Building rules require painted window frames and traditional forms even on shops and flats. Above the city sits a very large gilded bronze statue of the Buddha, finished in 2015.
Values are fair approximations of what the eye sees there, not measurements.
Colours tied to Thimphu
Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Thimphu" on Wikipedia. If you know Thimphu and we have it wrong, tell us.
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🇮🇳 Akbar's red sandstone cityFatehpur SikriA Mughal capital built in one red stone in the 1570s and left by the court only a few years later.Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Shekhawati In: Digrajsingh, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kutch In: Zeel Satyendra Modi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kanchipuram In: Ssriram mt, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Auroville In: Kaspar Konrad, Public domain, source
- Fatehpur Sikri In: HibaSiddiqui, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Paro Bt: Christopher Fynn, CC BY-SA 3.0, source