After the advent of modernism in the country the Royal Government of Bhutan, with an aim to showcase the country's rich culture and traditions, initiated the idea to introduce a museum for the first time and in 1968 the watchtower above Paro Dzong was chosen to initially house a modest collection of murals, numismatics, philately, etc.

Over the years, after much renovation the museum accumulated more and more objects from different parts of the country and is today a storehouse of Bhutan's cultural and traditional treasures. With over thirteen galleries, each holding exhibits from different periods and places in the country, the National Museum of Bhutan takes pride in its effort to educate its visitors, be they local or foreign, about the country's cultural history that date back to as early as 2000 B.C and its metamorphism over the ages into what it is today. After more than three decades, the museum has established itself not only as a huge tourist attraction but also as an institution of learning for both scholars and visitors; considering the history of the building, the National Museum of Bhutan can rightly be termed as a 'museum within a museum'.

The museum aims to:

• Acquire, research, preserve and interpret the history, art and culture of Bhutan from the ancient to the present day.
• Organize, maintain and develop galleries for the purpose of education and leisure.
• Develop educational and documentation center in order to acquire and preserve documents relating to works of Bhutanese art and history.
• Organize lectures, seminars and research on the museum artifacts.
• Develop specialized reference books, periodicals, photographs and audio-visual
  materials.
• Develop information source and database of the artifacts.