Gelephu’s Shivalaya Mandir Prepares for Golden Transformation
Bhutanese donors have given over Nu 7 million to gild Gelephu’s Shivalaya Mandir in gold by royal command, ahead of a celebration on 1 November.
Bhutanese donors have contributed Nu 7,255,568.58 (approx. USD 75,100) and 6.925 grams of gold towards the gilding of the Shivalaya Yagyaswar Mahadev Mandir in Gelephu, southern Bhutan.
The Golden Mandir fundraising platform recorded 1,869 contributors in its update for 7 October 2026. Of these, 1,865 were Bhutanese and four were international contributors.
The public appeal opened on 7 September and will continue until 31 October. Work on the temple is scheduled to be completed ahead of a celebration on 1 November.
A Royal Gift to Bhutan’s Hindu Community
The Shivalaya Yagyaswar Mahadev Mandir stands near Gelephu town, beside the Shetikhari River. Gelephu is located in Sarpang district, along Bhutan’s border with the Indian state of Assam.
The town now forms part of Gelephu Mindfulness City, a special administrative region being developed in southern Bhutan.
The temple was built as a royal gift from King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck to the Hindu community of Sarpang. It was formally inaugurated on 25 July 2018 and is dedicated to Shiva, one of Hinduism’s principal deities.
Hinduism is Bhutan’s second-largest religious tradition. Many Hindu Bhutanese live in the country’s southern districts, where festivals including Dashain and Bolbam form an important part of community life.
The mandir hosts the month-long Bolbam observance each year. Devotees fast, walk barefoot to collect river water and offer it at the temple. Before the mandir was built, many worshippers travelled to Bihar in India to pa
rticipate in the Shravani Mela pilgrimage.
The temple was also the setting for a royal ceremony in October 2021, when the King granted Dashain tika to representatives of Gelephu’s Hindu community. Tika is a mark placed on the forehead as a blessing during Dashain, the most important annual festival for many Nepali-speaking Hindu communities.
What the Gilding Project Covers
The project follows a royal command to adorn the temple with gold and develop it as an important religious landmark within Gelephu Mindfulness City.
The work includes gilding the temple’s shikhara, the tower rising above its inner sanctuary, as well as exterior structures and other sacred elements. Selected parts of the interior will also be adorned.
Access to the temple grounds will remain restricted while the structural and gilding work continues. The work is expected to be completed by 31 October.
The Prime Minister’s Office formally announced the Gold Gilding Project on 11 September.
Public Appeal Draws More Than 1,800 Contributors
More than Nu 1.6 million (approx. USD 16,600) was contributed on the first day of the appeal.
Bhutanese donors can contribute through the official banking gateway or scan the Bank of Bhutan QR code using participating mobile banking applications. International contributions are accepted in US dollars or Indian rupees through the online payment platform.
Gold and cash can also be delivered to designated collection points at Changlimithang in Thimphu and in Gelephu.
All monetary contributions are deposited into a single Bank of Bhutan account dedicated to the temple project. Each digital contribution is assigned a transaction record, while official acknowledgement receipts are issued for contributions made in person.
Prem Prasad Katel, the gup of Gelephu and the project’s focal person in the city, is helping coordinate the collection. A gup is the elected head of a gewog, Bhutan’s local subdistrict administrative unit.
Donations Qualify for Tax Relief
Bhutan’s Department of Revenue and Customs has approved contributions to the Golden Mandir for tax deduction under the Income Tax Act of Bhutan 2025, which took effect in January 2026.
For resident taxpayers, the allowable deduction is limited to the lower of the value of the qualifying donation or 5 percent of the donor’s adjusted income for the year. The Act allows approved cash and asset donations supporting the preservation and promotion of religion and culture to qualify for relief.
The same tax treatment applies to approved donations for the separate re-gilding of the Buddha Dordenma statue overlooking Thimphu. That project is being undertaken by the government and Bhutan’s Central Monastic Body and is expected to finish by the end of October.
Completion Will Coincide With Project 108
The Golden Mandir work is scheduled to conclude alongside another major religious undertaking in Gelephu.
On 1 November, Bhutan plans to complete 108 Jangchub chortens along the Mao River. A chorten is a Buddhist monument known more widely as a stupa. Each structure will stand 15 metres high, with the monuments positioned 108 metres apart along a corridor extending for about 11 kilometres.
The coordinated construction is part of Project 108, which is expected to involve thousands of volunteers.
The Hindu temple will join a growing group of religious and contemplative landmarks planned across Gelephu Mindfulness City. Its inclusion places a Hindu place of worship alongside Buddhist monuments within the city’s developing religious landscape.
The fundraising appeal will remain open until 31 October. The final value of the public contributions, and the proportion of the gilding costs they cover, will be known after the appeal closes.
