Places to visit in Thimphu, Bhutan
15 places to visit in Thimphu, Bhutan, each with LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own: Buddha Dordenma, Chagri Monastery, Changangkha Lhakhang and more. Stand at any of them with the app open and the stamp is yours, confirmed on site, in your Thimphu volume.
15 Hidden gems
Hidden gems in Thimphu (15)
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Buddha Dordenma
A gilded bronze Shakyamuni Buddha 54 metres tall, seated on a ridge above the southern approach to Thimphu among the ruins of an old palace. Inside are 125,000 smaller gilded bronze Buddhas, and the work was completed in 2015.
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Chagri Monastery
A monastery high above the head of the Thimphu valley, founded in 1620 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the founder of the Bhutanese state. It is reached on foot from the road end, crossing a covered bridge over the river before the climb.
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Changangkha Lhakhang
Probably the oldest surviving temple in Thimphu, founded in the 13th or 14th century on the tip of a ridge above the city centre. Parents bring small children here for blessings from its protective deity, Genyen Domtsangpa, guardian of children born in the city.
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Dechen Phodrang Monastery
A Buddhist monastery at the northern end of Thimphu whose name means Palace of Great Bliss. It sits above the city at the head of the valley road and today serves as a monastic school for young monks.
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Dochula Pass
A mountain pass on the road from Thimphu to Punakha, crowned by 108 memorial chortens built by the eldest Queen Mother, Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck. The Druk Wangyal Lhakhang stands beside them, and on clear days the view runs to the snow peaks of the Himalaya.
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Folk Heritage Museum
A museum in the Kawajangsa area of Thimphu, founded in 2001 and set in a traditional Bhutanese farmhouse. It shows the household objects, tools and ways of rural life in the kingdom.
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Lingzhi Dzong
A Drukpa Kagyu monastery and administrative centre at 4,150 metres in Lingzhi, in the far north of Thimphu District. About thirty monks live in the dzong, which also holds the local administrator's office, and it is reached only on foot along the trekking routes.
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National Library of Bhutan
Bhutan's national library and archives, founded in 1967 to preserve the country's cultural and religious heritage. Its main building in Kawajangtsa, above the Royal Thimphu Golf Course, is built in the style of a traditional temple and holds old Buddhist texts.
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Pangri Zampa Monastery
A Buddhist monastery just north of Thimphu that serves as a college of Bhutanese astrology. Monks here study the traditional calculations used across the kingdom to read the calendar and the stars.
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Phajoding Monastery
A monastery high on the slopes above Thimphu, founded in the 13th century by the Tibetan lama Phajo Drugom Zhigpo, who brought the Drukpa Kagyu teachings to Bhutan. Most of its buildings date from 1748, and the climb up from the city takes a few hours.
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Royal Takin Preserve
A wooded reserve in Motithang, on the edge of Thimphu, for the takin, Bhutan's national animal. It began as a small zoo, but when the animals were set free they would not move into the forest, so it became a preserve. Legend credits Lama Drukpa Kunley with creating the first takin.
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Royal Textile Academy
An academy in Thimphu devoted to Bhutanese weaving, founded under the patronage of Queen Mother Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck. It trains weavers in the country's traditional craft and shows the textiles that sit at the heart of Bhutanese culture.
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Simtokha Dzong
A small dzong built in 1628 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the unifier of Bhutan, and the first of its kind in the country. It stands on a ridge just south of Thimphu and now houses an institute for the study of the Dzongkha language.
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Tango Monastery
A monastery 14 kilometres north of Thimphu near Cheri Mountain, founded in the 13th century and rebuilt in its present form by Tenzin Rabgye in 1688. Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal meditated in its cave in 1616, and its chief deity is the wrathful Hayagriva.
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Tashichho Dzong
A great whitewashed fortress and monastery on the west bank of the Wang Chu at the northern edge of Thimphu. It was long the seat of the Druk Desi, head of the civil government, an office joined to the kingship since 1907; old British records called it Tassisudon.
Collecting in Thimphu
What are the best places to visit in Thimphu?
LOQAH lists 15 places in Thimphu. The best known include Buddha Dordenma, Chagri Monastery, Changangkha Lhakhang, Dechen Phodrang Monastery and Dochula Pass. Each has a stamp of its own to collect when you are there.
How many LOQAH stamps are there in Thimphu?
15, and more are added over time. Each place has LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own.
How do I collect a stamp in Thimphu?
Open LOQAH at the place and get its stamp. LOQAH checks where you are once, at that moment; at the place itself the stamp is confirmed on site, with a gold badge.
I have been to places in Thimphu before. Can I add them?
Yes. In Earlier trips, choose Thimphu and swipe through its stamps, or import your Google Timeline. Each one goes into your volume with the date, if you know it.
More in Bhutan
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LOQAH is free on iPhone and Android, in India and 20 more countries, with more countries on the way. Stand at a place, collect its stamp, and keep every trip in a passport that grows.