Trongsa, previously Tongsa (, ), is a Thromde or town, and the capital of Trongsa District in central Bhutan. The name means "new village" in Dzongkha. The first temple was built in 1543 by the Drukpa lama Ngagi Wangchuck, who was the great-grandfather of Ngawang Namgyal, Zhabdrung Rinpoche, the unifier of Bhutan.
Chökhor Raptentse Dzong at Trongsa which was built in 1644, used to be the seat of power of the Wangchuck dynasty before it became rulers of Bhutan in 1907. Traditionally the King of Bhutan first becomes the Trongsa Penlop (governor) before being named Crown Prince and eventually King. Built on a mountain spur high above the gorges of the Mangde Chhu, the dzong controlled eastâÂÂwest trade for centuries. The only road connecting eastern and western Bhutan (the precursor to the modern Lateral Road), passed through the courtyard of the dzong. At the command of the penlop the massive doors could be shut, dividing the country in two.
Higher yet on the mountainside is a watchtower, called "Ta Dzong"(watch tower), built to guard the dzong from enemies but now housing a museum and a chapel dedicated to Jigme Namgyal who was Trongsa Penlop from 1853 to 1870.
Early establishment of Trongsa Dzong.
As per the prophecy à ½£à ½´à ½Âà ¼Âà ½Âà ½¦à ¾Âà ½Âà ¼ of lha dang lama, In 1543 the tutor [yong-zinà ½¡à ½¼à ½Âà ½¦à ¼Âà ½ à ½Âà ½²à ½Â] of kuenkhen Pema karpo à ½Âà ½´à ½Âà ¼Âà ½Âà ½Âà ¾±à ½ºà ½Âà ¼Âà ½Âà ½Âà ¾¨à ¼Âà ½Âà ½Âà ½¢à ¼Âà ½Âà ½¼à ¼ visited yoelingà ½ à ½¼à ½Âà ¼Âà ½Âà ¾³à ½²à ½Âà ¼Âà ¼ village to the north à ½Âà ¾±à ½Âà ¼Âà ½Âà ¾±à ½¼à ½Âà ½¦à ¼ of current day Trongsa dzong, where yoeling temple à ½£à ¾·à ¼Âà ½Âà ½Âà ¼Âà ¼Âà ½¼ is located. In his clear spiritual vision, he saw a sparkling light emerging at night from a cliff in the middle of a forest. Later that day, when he went to the site, he saw the bagha à ½Âà ¾·à ¼Âà ½ of dorji phamo and the soul lake à ½Âà ¾³à ¼Âà ½Âà ½Âà ½¼à ¼ of pelden Lhamo à ½Âà ½Âà ½£à ¼Âà ½£à ¾¡à ½Âà ¼Âà ½£à ¾·à ¼Âà ½Âà ½¼à ¼Â[Mahakali] as well as the footprints of her riding horse à ½ à ½Âà ½²à ½Âà ¼Âà ½¢à ¾ along the waist of the cliff. Yongzin Rinpoche then built a hermitage at the particular site and meditated in the area, where he saw Pelden Lhamo in person. In that event, he realized it to be a prophecy for the place to have a Majestic Dzong, from which the reign of the Pelden Drukpa would flourish as the rays of the Sun.
The valley of Trongsa also known as Mang-Dey.
Trongsa is also known as Mang-deg which later became Mang-dey, with a change in the spelling and pronunciation of the second word. The history behind who, why and when the name was given runs back to the time when Buddhist scholar Kuenkhen Longchen Rabjam visited Trongsa around 1357 and conferred kachoe à ½Âà ½Âà ½ à ¼Âà ½Âà ½¼à ½¦à ¼ spiritual teaching at the place called Sherabling. During that time the people of Trongsa [devotees] offered plenty of druna à ½ à ½Âà ¾²à ½´à ¼Âà ½¦à ¾£à ¼ [grain] as offering. In an enchanting way, Kuenkhen Rinpoche said, "since you all offered me plenty of grain, the place will be called 'Mang-Deg'" à ½Âà ½Âà ¼Âà ½¦à ¾¡à ½ºà ½Â- mang meaning plenty and deg meaning offered. Thus the name of the place was derived from Kuenkhen Rinpoche's statement, and was known as Mang-deg, which later changed to mag-dey as mentioned before, with the change of time.