National Memorial Chorten, Thimphu

The National Memorial Chorten, also called the Thimphu Memorial Chorten, is a large Tibetan-style Buddhist stupa on Doeboom Lam in central Thimphu. It was constructed in 1974 in memory of the third Druk Gyalpo, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, who had died in Nairobi on 21 July 1972. The chorten was commissioned by his mother, the Royal Grandmother Ashi Phuntsho Choden, in fulfilment of the late king's unrealised wish to build a chorten symbolising world peace.^[1][2]

Architecturally, the chorten follows the Tibetan jangchub (enlightenment) stupa form rather than the more common Bhutanese chorten style, with a square base, white-washed bell-shaped dome, gilded harmika and a tapering thirteen-stepped spire crowned by sun and moon ornaments. It is the most heavily circumambulated religious monument in Thimphu, drawing several hundred lay devotees on most days, particularly elderly pilgrims who pass much of the day spinning the surrounding prayer wheels.^[1][3]

Construction and patronage

The original idea for the chorten is recorded as the third king's own. Jigme Dorji Wangchuck had reportedly expressed a wish during his lifetime to commission a religious monument dedicated to the cause of world peace, but did not live to see the project initiated. After his death the Royal Grandmother Ashi Phuntsho Choden took up the project and approached Lam Sonam Zangpo, an eminent Drukpa Kagyu lama, to oversee the work. Lam Sonam Zangpo, then engaged in other commitments, transferred responsibility for the design and construction to his son-in-law, the Nyingma master Dungsey Thinley Norbu Rinpoche (1931–2011).^[1][2]

Construction took place in 1974 on a site on the south side of central Thimphu, on what is now Doeboom Lam. The chorten was consecrated the same year and has been continuously maintained since by the central monastic body in cooperation with the Thimphu Dzongkhag administration.^[1]

Architecture

The Memorial Chorten is built to the proportions of a classical Tibetan jangchub chorten, distinguished from the more common chorten kagyel form found across western Bhutan by its broader dome and stepped spire. The structure is whitewashed with red and gold detailing on the upper levels. Its design departs from typical Bhutanese chorten construction in being entered as a temple: pilgrims pass through doorways at the base and ascend through three internal floors of shrines, each densely populated with painted images and statues drawn from the Vajrayana iconography of the Nyingma school.^[1][4]

The ground floor is consecrated to the teachings of Vajrakilaya, a wrathful tantric deity associated with the removal of obstacles. The middle floor is dedicated to the Drukpa lineage teachings on subduing the eight classes of malevolent spirits. The upper floor is consecrated to the Lama Gongdü cycle of teachings revealed by the 14th-century terton Sangye Lingpa. The interior wall paintings and statues, executed under Thinley Norbu Rinpoche's direction, are considered among the most extensive Vajrayana iconographic programmes in Bhutan.^[1]

Daily devotional use

The chorten is the principal site of daily lay religious practice in Thimphu. Hundreds of devotees, predominantly elderly Bhutanese, circumambulate the structure clockwise from early morning, often for many hours at a time. The surrounding compound contains long covered walkways housing large prayer wheels, smaller prayer wheel banks, and seating areas. The site is busiest in the early morning and again in the late afternoon. The chorten functions as a continuous, low-key centre of religious activity in a way that the country's less accessible mountain monasteries cannot, and it is therefore one of the most-visited religious sites in the capital.^[3][4]

Practical information

• Location: Doeboom Lam, central Thimphu, opposite the Indian Embassy and adjacent to the Royal Bhutan Police Headquarters compound
• Coordinates: approximately 27.4632 N, 89.6394 E
• Hours: open daily during daylight hours; circumambulation begins at first light and continues until dusk
• Admission: free for Bhutanese; nominal entry fee for foreign visitors
• Photography: permitted in the outer compound; restricted within the inner shrines
• Dress: modest dress required; visitors are expected to remove hats and shoes before entering the inner temple floors

References

1. Memorial Chorten, Thimphu — Wikipedia
2. National Memorial Chorten — Dzongkhag Administration, Thimphu
3. Thimphu Memorial Chorten — Dorji Wangchuk
4. National Memorial Chorten — Oriental Architecture
5. National Memorial Chorten — Lonely Planet