Kuenga Rabten Palace is located 23 km towards Zhemgang Road from Trongsa. It takes nearly an hour to reach the place. It is a two-storied purely Bhutanese-style architecture. It is a very simple palace and is the birthplace of our Late King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck. He was born on 2nd May 1928. He spent most of his early childhood days here in the Palace.
Before reaching the place you can see the palace clearly on the roadside of the highway to Zhemgang from Trongsa. It was the winter palace of the second King of Bhutan. Now it is the top touristic place in Trongsa. It is under the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs under National Commission for Cultural Affairs.
When Bhutan was ruled by Penlops and Desis in the 19th century. A conflict broke out between the Trongsa Penlop Dungkar Gyeltshen and the Jakar Penlop Pema Tenzin. The conflict took place more than three years. Finally, Pema Tenzin became Trongsa Penlop and found a small place called Tek-ka-Shong as the summer residence below the Jakar dzong in Bumthang. Te-Khar is the winter residence in Trongsa, below what would become Kuenga Rabten.
At present, the palace is looked after by monks from the central monastic body in Trongsa Dzongkhag Administration under Monastic Body. Around fifty monks are living at the palace, including two teachers. The room where the Queen used to stay has been altered to be the office of the monk’s body. Some rooms have also been made into a storeroom for the National Library of Bhutan.
The Kuenga Rabten Palace is one of three royal residences in central Trongsa. It is located on the side of the Mangde Chhu River with an elevation of 1750 meters. It was built in the year 1929. It was winter residence. The summer capital was in Bumthang. It is cool in Jakar, which served as the summer capital.
The Kuenga Rabten Palace was constructed by the second King Jigme Wangchuck(1926-52). The palace was constructed by the second King, Jigme Wangchuck. It was constructed under the supervision of Dasho Jamyang, the father of Queen Ashi Puntsho Choden (1911-2003).
The floors are divided into 3 floors for the Kuenga Rabten Palace and are surrounded by mud walls.
The ground floor of the Palace was used as a store for grains. Now it is used for monks in classrooms. The main entrance leads into the central room, known as the Sangye Lhakhang, which is the main temple.
The middle floor was used for the military garrison. Basically for the protection of the King.
The upper floor of the palace was the private apartments for King and Queen. You can see an audience hall, guestrooms for VIPs, and a private altar room named “Sangye Lhakhang”.In the Sangye lhakhang, there are images of Shakyamuni Buddha and the Twenty-one Aspects of Tara. You can also see silver made as well as a gold plated chorten and stupas. These were gifts from the Nepalese King to King Jigme Wangchuck during his visit to Nepal. The paintings of the 35 Buddhas of Compassion, Zangdopelri, and Guru Rimpoche are worth seeing.
The walls made of mud and stones surrounding the Kuenga Rabten palace were built to provide protection to the palace. You can also spy holes in the walls to check out the enemies. the palace itself is relatively open and lacks the intimidating appearance of traditional dzong architecture.
After the third King ascended the throne, the palace was no longer for winter residence for the King. King shifted to Thimphu because Thimphu was upgraded to Capital. In 1969 he donated the building of the palace to National Library Department.
The palace fulfills a public role for the community of the local place of Kuenga Rabten to fulfill religious and social daily life. The monks of the Monastic body perform daily prayers and rituals for the local community. In terms of socially productive usage, the palace grounds have a good field for archery matches. You can witness the game if the Archery match is going on.
The site also stores books for the National Library of Bhutan, though the books are not accessible to the public.
In the present era, it also houses about fifty monks belonging to the central monastic body in Trongsa.