On Sunday, 1 November 2026, more than 40,000 volunteers built 108 stupas in a single day along the riverbank at Gelephu in southern Bhutan, the site of the future Gelephu Mindfulness City. Around 200,000 people, roughly a quarter of the country, came to witness it.
What happened at Gelephu?
Work began shortly after midnight. By the end of the day, 108 stupas, each standing around 15 metres tall, lined some 12 kilometres of riverbank at the heart of the planned city. Volunteers from across the kingdom carried stone and earth, while families, monks and officials gathered to watch the monuments rise.
His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck addressed the gathering afterwards and admitted he had worried that the goal of finishing everything in one day might not be met. It was. Officials described the stupas as a prayer made permanent in stone and earth: a spiritual foundation laid before the city itself is built.
Why 108?
108 is one of the most sacred numbers in Buddhism. A Buddhist rosary (mala) has 108 beads, the Kangyur, the collected teachings of the Buddha, is traditionally gathered in 108 volumes, and practitioners often recite prayers or prostrate 108 times.
Bhutan has honoured the number before. The 108 chortens at Dochula pass, commissioned by Her Majesty the Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, have become one of the most photographed sights in the country. Gelephu now has its own 108, on a far larger scale.
What is a stupa?
A stupa, or chorten in Bhutan, is a sacred monument that represents the enlightened mind of the Buddha. Many hold relics, scriptures and offerings sealed inside. Building one is believed to bring great merit, not just to the builders but to everyone who sees it, and Bhutanese walk clockwise around chortens as a quiet act of devotion.
Raising 108 of them on the site of a new city is a statement of intent: whatever is built at Gelephu is meant to grow from Bhutan's spiritual values, not in spite of them.
What is Gelephu Mindfulness City?
Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) is a special administrative region in southern Bhutan, around 240 kilometres south of Thimphu on the border with India's Assam. Conceived by His Majesty the King and established by royal charter in 2024, it is planned by Danish architects as a city woven around rivers, forests and wildlife corridors.
Today Gelephu is a small town of about 10,000 people. The vision is to create opportunity at home for young Bhutanese in sustainable business, green technology, education, tourism and finance, with a rail link to Assam and an international airport planned for 2029.
Can visitors see the 108 stupas?
The stupas stand at the Gelephu Mindfulness City site in Gelephu, a warm, green town reached overland from Assam or by domestic flight from Paro. Arrangements for visiting the site are still taking shape, so ask us and we will confirm the latest when we plan your journey.
Gelephu also makes a natural gateway for travellers entering Bhutan from the south, and a striking contrast to the high valleys of the west and centre.
Header photo (A white stupa beside the Kurichu river in eastern Bhutan): Franzfoto, CC BY-SA 3.0
