Wearing a new look every few weeks, Clock Tower, one of the prominent landmarks in Thimphu has been the talk of the town for quite some time now. The structure is being renovated. But people aren’t pleased with the modified look. The Thimphu Thromde started the refurbishing works in August as the country prepared to reopen borders for tourists.
The Clock Tower Square in the heart of Thimphu town looks different today with many describing it as plain and empty. The prayer wheels, benches, fountain and gardens have all been removed.
“I can see a lot of differences at the clock tower today compared to the earlier days. We can no longer see the prayer wheels around the tower which looked better. I am not sure if there will be more changes in the future too. In my opinion, I found the previous version with the prayer wheels better than the one with the changes today,” said Lengkong, a resident of Thimphu.
“The main difference I can see at the clock tower is the different colours on the gallery which keep changing frequently. Moreover, the removal of chorten has made the place look very plain and to me, I feel like the place looked better with them. Though the clock tower looks good after renovation, in my opinion, it would look better if the chortens are rebuilt with different designs,” said Rita Ghalley, another resident.
“The stage looks a little bigger, the prayer wheels around the tower have been removed, and the gallery looks brighter with different colours. The place used to host shows which are still happening and to me, the purpose of the place has not changed. Nevertheless, before the renovation, elder people used to visit the area to recite prayers and turn the prayer wheels which are no longer in sight. The transformed clock tower sometimes looks like it is only meant for the younger generations like us,” said Norzin Choden.
It doesn’t end here. Recently, social media was flooded with many complaining that the money used so far on the redevelopment of the structure could have been used for some other important projects. Three million ngultrum was on the project so far. As per the Thromde, they repainted the clocktower, cleared the clogged drains, removed defunct fountains and damaged benches and carried out renovation of staircases among others.
They added that the prayer wheels were removed as they were not being used for the intended purposes. Thromde said people were using it to hide rubbish and throw cigarette buds.
The Thromde plans to relocate the prayer wheels to areas where people can use them more meaningfully.
Meanwhile, works to reinstall benches and greening projects have yet to be completed.
Samten Dolkar/Namgay Dema
Edited by Phub Gyem
