1 day
to raise 108 Jangchub Chortens along the Mau Chhu in Gelephu — Sunday 1 November 2026
Project 108 in Numbers: 108 Chortens, 40,000 Volunteers, One Day
Bhutan has built chortens for as long as it has been Bhutan. It has never raised 108 of them, fifteen metres high, between one sunrise and the next.
The line
108 chortens, 108 metres apart
Project 108 does not gather its chortens in one place. It sets them in a single line along the Mau Chhu in Gelephu Mindfulness City.
108
Jangchub Chortens — the chorten of enlightenment, one of the eight classical forms
~15 m
the height of each — about five storeys
108 m
the distance from each chorten to the next
11.6 km
from the first chorten to the last — 107 intervals of 108 metres
The builders
One Bhutanese in twenty
The chortens will be raised through zhabtog — voluntary service, offered for the common good.
~40,000
volunteers expected on 1 November — about one in twenty of Bhutan's residents
68,914
registered to attend as of 28 September 2026 — Bhutanese and visitors from abroad
300
volunteers assigned to each chorten — 32,400 on the structures alone
The offerings
Almost all funded by June
USD 200,000
the cost of raising one chorten — about USD 21.6 million for all 108
Sponsors range from the Royal Family, monastic institutions and the armed forces to a foresters’ welfare fund built over generations, Bhutanese living abroad, and supporters in Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea and Japan.
50+
chortens sponsored by 23 May, weeks after the public window opened
7,866
people gave through the Royal Securities Exchange crowdfunding, 9 May to 21 August
Nu 28.4m + USD 84,651
raised on that platform alone, at home and abroad
The inside
The part no one will see
Inside every chorten is its zung — relics, hand-rolled mantras and prepared objects around a central wooden pole. The tradition values it above the outer form. Once sealed, no one sees it again.
~40
masters of zung practice, drawn from all twenty dzongkhags, preparing the relics at Sarpang for several months since June
120
sacred Ringsel offered by His Holiness the Je Khenpo in July
108 at once
for monks who might prepare the zung for one or two chortens in a year
The day
Why 1 November
In 2026, 1 November is Lhabab Duechen — the Descending Day of Lord Buddha — and Coronation Day. Raising a chorten is among the most meritorious acts in the tradition; raising 108 on this day joins the two observances in a single act.
Timeline
From announcement to the day
- 21 Feb Project 108 announced at the fifth Gelephu volunteer programme, on His Majesty's birth anniversary; 16,000+ volunteers in Gelephu
- 24 Mar His Majesty walks the corridor
- May Sponsorship opens; more than 50 chortens sponsored by 23 May
- 16 Jun Salang Tendrel at Chortens 1, 92 and 108; zung preparation begins at Sarpang Dzong
- 27 Jun Almost all chortens funded; more than 30,000 signed up
- 28 Sep 68,914 registered to attend; 21-day consecration of the relics begins
- Jul His Holiness the Je Khenpo offers 120 Ringsel
- 1 Nov All 108 Jangchub Chortens raised in a single day
The full account is in Project 108: The Plan and the Vision; the relics in The Zung Inside Every Chorten; and Bhutan’s earlier 108s in Dochula, Gelephu and a Seventh-Century King.