The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Their Majesties The King and Gyaltsuen received the newly ordained Gelongmas on the morning of 20 November 2025 and offered the first auspicious alms to mark their ordination.
The nuns, who have been receiving full Gelongma ordination from His Holiness the Je Khenpo over the past several days, then proceeded along Norzin Lam to receive alms.
Hundreds of people gathered along the route to offer alms and prayers as the Gelongmas made their way to the Clock Tower Square, where they were formally received by the Prime Minister. The procession marked the final public event of the Global Peace Prayer Festival, commemorating the 70th Birth Anniversary of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo.
This year’s ordination has brought together more than 260 nuns from 14 countries, making it one of the most significant Gelongma ordinations held in Bhutan. The five-day ceremony, organised by the Bhutan Nuns Foundation in partnership with the Central Monastic Body, follows the landmark 2022 ordination, when full Mahayana Gelongma vows were conferred on a large group of nuns for the first time in the region.
The Gelongma ordination is the highest level of vows in the Buddhist monastic tradition for nuns. Its continuation in Bhutan is seen as a major step in restoring a lineage of women’s ordination that had largely disappeared in many parts of the Buddhist world. With full vows, nuns are able to participate equally in the monastic community, helping re-establish the complete fourfold sangha of monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen described in early Buddhist teachings.
Bhutan is now one of the few places where women can receive full ordination within the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition, a development regarded as spiritually significant for the advancement of the Dharma and for widening opportunities for women pursuing monastic life. The culmination of the ordination and today’s alms offering brings an auspicious end to weeks of prayers, ceremonies, and national celebrations held under the Global Peace Prayer Festival.
