Bhutan Dedicates Stupa 76 to PM Modi as 108 Stupas Rise at Gelephu Mindfulness City
In a rare and deeply symbolic honour, Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck has dedicated a sacred Buddhist stupa to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recognising his contribution to the friendship between India and Bhutan. The dedication took place on November 1 at Gelephu Mindfulness City, during a ceremony to raise and consecrate 108 Buddhist stupas, known as Jangchub Chortens or Stupas of Enlightenment, on the auspicious occasion of the Buddhist festival of Lhabab Duchen.
The stupa dedicated to the Prime Minister is number 76, a number chosen because Modi turned 76 a little over a month ago. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, who represented India at the ceremony, unveiled the plaque dedicating Jangchub Chorten number 76 to Modi alongside the Bhutanese King, and later described the gesture as a huge honour for India. In a message after the ceremony, Rijiju thanked the King for dedicating the sacred stupa to Modi for his outstanding vision and commitment to friendship between India and Bhutan, and said the moment reflected the deep spiritual and civilisational bonds between the two nations.
The ceremony itself was an extraordinary feat of devotion and organisation. More than 40,000 trained volunteers, monks and artisans took part in raising the 108 stupas in a single day, working from the early hours of the morning until noon while thousands of people chanted a six-syllable Buddhist mantra. Each stupa stands 15 metres tall, and the structures stand 108 metres apart in a single meandering line stretching about 11.7 kilometres along the Mau River, the lifeline of Gelephu. The King, members of the royal family, Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, top officials and foreign dignitaries attended the consecration, which was accompanied by the blowing of dungchens, the traditional long horns of Buddhist ceremony.
The stupas form the spiritual foundation of Gelephu Mindfulness City, the ambitious project through which the King envisions a modern urban centre built on Bhutan’s ancient principles and traditions — a spirituality-driven global economic hub that also showcases the kingdom as a prominent centre of Vajrayana Buddhism. Gelephu lies about 240 kilometres south-southeast of the capital Thimphu, near Assam’s Chirang district, and the city is central to Bhutan’s plans for its economic future. At the ceremony, the King praised Modi and the Government of India for their steadfast support for the Gelephu vision, saying India’s confidence in the project was also confidence in Bhutan.
Rijiju, who holds the Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs portfolios, was in Bhutan from October 31 to November 2. During the visit he met Bhutanese Prime Minister Tobgay in Gelephu, and the two leaders discussed strengthening the India-Bhutan partnership and exploring the potential of the mindfulness city project. He also conveyed Modi’s warm greetings to the King and reaffirmed India’s steadfast commitment to the unique and enduring bilateral partnership. For India, the dedication of Stupa 76 stands as an enduring symbol of a friendship built not on transactions alone, but on shared spiritual heritage, mutual respect and decades of close cooperation between two neighbours.
