16-Day Gathering Unites Over 20,000 Participants From 50 Nations in a Royal Vision for Compassion and Collective Renewal

THIMPHU, Bhutan, Nov. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Amid a time of global division and collective fatigue, the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is offering something extraordinary: a 16-day Global Peace Prayer Festival, bringing together more than 20,000 participants from over 50 nations in a shared call for compassion, peace, and shared purpose.

Presided over by His Holiness the Je Khenpo (Chief Abbot) and hosted by the Royal Government of Bhutan, the Central Monastic Body, and the Centre for Bhutan and GNH Studies, the festival runs November 4–10, 2025, across Thimphu's sacred grounds and public spaces.

Bhutan's Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay described the event as a "royal vision," launched under the guidance of His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who asked his nation to "gather the world in prayer" at a time when humanity faces mounting conflict, disconnection, and spiritual fatigue.

"Bhutan is showing the world that shared attention heals," said Hon. Namgay Tshering, former Finance Minister. "In a fractured world, collective prayer becomes not just a religious act, but a civic one, and a reminder that unity begins with presence."

Previewed this fall at the United Nations, the festival represents Bhutan's soft diplomacy in action, a state-sanctioned offering of peace, compassion, and cultural resilience from one of the world's most peaceful democracies.

The event coincides with the 70th birthday of His Majesty the Fourth King, celebrated nationwide on November 11, and reinforces Bhutan's guiding philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which holds that true development balances material progress with emotional and spiritual well-being.

Reimagining Public Ritual as Civic Healing

The Global Peace Prayer Festival redefines the role of collective ritual in modern society, transforming spiritual practice into an act of global citizenship.

Program highlights include:

• Global Peace Prayer (Nov. 8–10): A non-sectarian, collective meditation for peace.
  
  
• Public Blessing Day (Nov. 10): A day of shared compassion and renewal.

By dawn each day, Thimphu's stadium fills with mothers holding prayer beads, monks in maroon robes, and visitors from every continent. The air carries the scent of incense as choirs of monks intone the Bazaguru mantra for peace, their voices echoing through the surrounding hills. For many Bhutanese, it is a once-in-a-generation convergence. For visitors, it's an immersion in the living practice of Vajrayana Buddhism, an experience rarely open to such large-scale participation.

In an era defined by polarization and exhaustion, Bhutan's message is profoundly simple: peace begins with shared attention. Through collective ritual and compassionate awareness, Bhutan invites the world to reimagine spirituality as civic participation and to view happiness as a measure of collective well-being.

For more information, visit (https://globalpeaceprayers.org/gppf.html). High-resolution photographs, video clips, and media kits are available upon request.

Media Contacts:

Global Peace Prayer Festival Communications Office
404630@email4pr.com 

Dasho Kezang Deki
Bhutan Cabinet Secretary
WhatsApp +975 17 140 848

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SOURCE Global Peace Prayer Festival