Watch Day was celebrated at Wangduechhoeling Palace, a nineteenth-century palace in the Bumthang District of Bhutan, on October 13, 2012. To engage the community and spread awareness about the historical significance of the site, a writing competition was organized in which students contributed to recording the oral history of the palace. Eighth-grade students from the Wangduechhoeling Lower Secondary School, located near the palace, gathered stories from members of their families and the community and submitted their essays recounting the tales of traditions surrounding the palace. Selected stories were read at an assembly on Watch Day and students were presented with prizes and given a special tour of the palace. These stories will help to strengthen the community connection to the history of the site and will prove to be a valuable reference in the future for those wishing to learn more about Wangduechhoeling Palace and its local significance.
View of Wangduechhoeling Palace, an exquisite example of traditional nineteenth-century Bhutanese architecture, from a distance.
Students of Wangduechhoeling Lower Secondary School, their parents, and community members gather for a morning assembly on Watch Day.
Eighth graders wrote essays documenting oral histories of the palace that they collected from their family members and others. The essay-writing competition allowed them to learn about their heritage and to provide important contributions to the repository of information about Wangduechhoeling. Here, the winners pose with school administrators.
A student reads her award-winning essay to the audience.
After the assembly, students were given a special tour of Wangduechhoeling Palace.
Young monks exit the ceremony as Watch Day concludes at Wangduechhoeling Palace.
