Bhutan volunteers build 108 stupas for mindfulness city

More than 40,000 volunteers raised 108 Buddhist stupas on Sunday, November 1, at the planned Gelephu Mindfulness City in Bhutan, officials said, in a ceremony tied to the kingdom's effort to build a new economic hub near the Indian border.

The 15-metre solid towers stretch along 12 kilometres of riverbank at the future city site. Officials said around 200,000 people attended the ceremony, in a country with a population of just under 800,000.

King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck said he had worried the one-day effort might not succeed, but that it had been completed successfully.

Bhutan established the special zone by royal charter in 2024. The planned city is intended to attract investment in sustainable business, green technology, education, tourism and financial services, and to encourage more young Bhutanese to stay in the country.

The project site near Gelephu is about 240 kilometres from Thimphu and had a population of less than 10,000 in the 2017 census. Organisers estimate the stupas cost $21 million. The site is expected to be connected to India's rail network in Assam, and an international airport is slated to open in 2029.

The project is also linked to Bhutan's digital-asset plans, with the country mining bitcoin using surplus hydropower and pledging to use digital assets to support the city's development.