National Memorial Chorten

The National Memorial Chorten was built in 1974 in memory of the third king, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, who had wanted to build a monument representing the Buddha's mind and died before doing so. It is a Tibetan-style stupa with a golden spire, whitewashed and painted, and unusually it contains no relics; instead the interior holds tantric statuary and painting in three levels, unusually elaborate for a chorten. What makes it worth an hour is not the structure but the use: from early morning until evening, elderly people from all over Thimphu walk clockwise around it, turning the large prayer wheels set in the surrounding buildings, telling beads and sitting on the benches, so it functions as the social and devotional centre of the capital.

What you actually see

• Constant circumambulation - people walking the chorten from dawn to dusk.
• The large prayer wheels - banks of wheels turned by passing devotees.
• Tantric interior - three levels of statuary and painting inside.
• The golden spire - the stupa itself in the middle of the city.

When to go

March to May and September to November for the city generally. Early morning and late afternoon are when the chorten is busiest and most alive. It is open every day of the year.

Honest expectations

The structure itself is modern and modest; the interest is the human activity around it. Photography of people should be asked about. Circumambulation goes clockwise and walking against the flow causes offence. Interior access is sometimes restricted.

Nearby

Tashichho Dzong lies north; central Thimphu is around it.