By Kavita Mistry 
GUWAHATI
A 16-day festival to pray for world peace and the healing of humanity amid conflicts began in Bhutan’s capital, Thimphu, on Tuesday (November 4, 2025).
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk, the king of Bhutan, and Trulku Jigme Choedra, the country’s chief abbot, ceremonially launched the Global Peace Prayer Festival (GPPF) at the Changlimithang ground in Thimphu.
The Royal Government of Bhutan is organising the festival.
One of the key events of the festival is Jabzhi, a Vajrayana Buddhist ritual used for cleansing negative karma and removing destructive forces. The Jabzhi, which started on Tuesday (November 4), will continue till November 10.
“It is appropriate that Jabzhi is being held as an effective counterweight, an obstacle remover, to everything seen and unseen that may block the blessed energies radiating from the global peace prayer,” a festival spokesperson said. The Jabzhi will be followed by the Kalachakra empowerment, which offers a glimpse of Shambhala, a mythical paradise of peace and tranquillity.
Ahead of the commencement of the GPPF, Bhutan’s Prime Minister, Tshering Tobgay, said that King Wangchuk conceived the GPPF to be an event for peace on earth, coinciding with the 70th birth anniversary of Jigme Singye Wangchuk, the fourth King.
The fourth King abdicated his throne at the age of 51 and introduced democracy in Bhutan, the last surviving Vajrayana kingdom in the world.
The Prime Minister also said the Government of India was supporting the GPPF. He thanked his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, for allowing sacred relics of the Buddha to be brought to Thimphu for the festival.