Bhutan eyes religious international peacemaker function

Bhutan, an island of tranquillity in a troubled neighbourhood, is eyeing the function of a religious international peacemaker in a world torn by conflicts, polarisation, and discord.

The Himalayan nation’s Central Monastic Body mentioned Bhutan examined the waters by bringing collectively non secular leaders, students, and thinkers from three fundamental branches of Buddhism — Mahayana, Theravada, and Vajrayana — for the first-ever Global Peace Prayer Festival (GPPF), being held in Thimphu from November 4 to 19.

The “overwhelming response” from Buddhists inside and past the nation has prompted Bhutan to plan the GPPF as an annual occasion on a bigger scale, involving prime practitioners of all or most mainstream and indigenous religions on Earth.

“His Majesty, the King of Bhutan, conceived the GPPF as a worldwide platform for transformative spiritualism towards co-creating a future rooted in peace and happiness. Our success in bringing leaders from all branches of Buddhism is a step in the correct path,” Chorten Dorji, the Secretary of the Central Monastic Body, instructed The Hindu on Sunday (November 9, 2025).

The Bhutanese authorities’s confidence in enterprise the occasion on a grand scale stemmed from comparable festivals held yearly throughout the nation’s 20 dzongkhags (districts) to hope for world peace and the therapeutic of humanity.

The GPPF has attracted lamas and different representatives from the Mahayana department in China, Singapore, and Taiwan; from the Theravada department in Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand; and from the Vajrayana department in Bhutan, India, and the Tibetan area.

“We see the response as an encouragement to organise GPPF yearly by inviting the participation of clergymen, religious leaders, and students from all religions. The concurrence of interfaith leaders, who play a serious function in society, is important for lasting peace anyplace,” Mr. Dorji mentioned.

The GPPF organisers made this intention clear by making a window for Hindu clergymen and religious leaders from India to carry a mass recitation occasion on November 7.

The Central Monastic Body appreciated the assistance from the Government of India “in money and type” to organise the GPPF and transport Lord Buddha’s relics from the National Museum in New Delhi to the Grand Kuenray corridor in Thimphu for public veneration from November 12 to 18.

“The cooperation we have now acquired from India has cemented the bond between our two nations. And the upcoming go to of India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has made the competition extra globally important,” Mr. Dorji mentioned.

(This correspondent is in Thimphu on the invitation of the Government of Bhutan.)