National Memorial Chorten

The National Memorial Chorten in Thimphu is a stupa about 33m tall, built in 1974 to honour Bhutan's third king, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, and commissioned by the Queen Mother Ashi Phuntsho Choden.

It is one of Thimphu's most visited religious sites and, unlike many temples, welcomes daily worship from the general public rather than being reserved for monks.

The chorten is Tibetan in style rather than Bhutanese, with three floors of shrines inside, and it serves as the city's public devotional centre: elderly residents circle it with hand prayer wheels through the whole day and the flow of people around it never quite stops. The third king, whom it commemorates, is regarded as the ruler who opened Bhutan to the modern world. It stands in central Thimphu, walkable from the weekend market, and is usually the first or last thing a visitor sees in the capital.