Takila Guru Statue
The Takila Guru Statue is a 154-foot (46.9 m) figure of Guru Rinpoche on a hillside at Takila, in Maenbi Gewog, Lhuentse — the largest Guru Rinpoche statue in Bhutan. Begun in March 2008, consecrated in 2015. Forty-five minutes to an hour, entry included in your tour.
Why go and see it
Because almost nobody has, and it is enormous.
Guru Rinpoche — Guru Nangsi Zilnoen, in the name the statue carries — stands looking out over the Kuri Chhu valley, ringed by eight large and 108 small chortens. Bhutan’s best-known colossus is Buddha Dordenma above Thimphu, which everybody sees on day two. Takila is seven metres shorter, three days east, and you will very likely have it to yourselves.
It also stands where the person it depicts is said to have walked. Guru Rinpoche’s associations run all through this district and up to Singye Dzong on the northern border — so the statue is not a monument dropped into a valley, it is the modern end of something very old here.
What is it like to visit?
Road access, then steps up to the base. After a week of eastern Bhutan’s hillside temples, that is worth saying plainly: this one is easy.
The temple beneath the statue is a place of learning for monks and nuns, so there is usually a community in residence rather than an empty monument. Nobody publishes opening hours — ask us, and we will find out what is open on your day.
Shoulders and knees covered, long sleeves, shoes off inside. Photograph the outside, not the interior.
Year-round. The road serves it, the statue is the point, and there is no season that does or doesn’t suit it.
How does it fit into a day in Lhuentse?
Takila is in Maenbi, about 15 km by road from the Tangmachu bridge, which puts it comfortably within a day that also takes in Lhuntse Dzong and, if you are staying the night, the weavers at Khoma. It is the least demanding stop of the three — a flight of steps rather than a hillside, and a made road all the way — so it works well either first thing or as the last thing before a long drive.
Two of the district’s certified homestays are at Takila itself, if you would rather stay here than in Khoma.
Who built it, and why
The statue was initiated and funded by the Druk Odiyana Project and envisioned by the late Khenpo Karpo, whose intention was that Takila serve two purposes: a place of learning for monks and nuns, and — in time — a home for elderly people. After his death, the site passed to Lam Namdruk Zangpo on 9 June 2017.
That second purpose is unusual enough to be worth remembering when you stand there. The statue is the visible part; the plan underneath it was a home for the old as much as a monument.
See things to do in Lhuentse for the rest of the district.
Tours that visit Lhuentse
Frequently asked questions
How tall is the Takila Guru Rinpoche statue?
154 feet — 46.9 metres. That makes it the largest statue of Guru Rinpoche in Bhutan. It is not the country's tallest statue overall: Buddha Dordenma in Thimphu is 54 m.
When was the Takila statue built?
Construction began in March 2008 and the statue was consecrated in 2015, funded through the Druk Odiyana Project. It is one of the few major sites in eastern Bhutan younger than most of the people visiting it.
Where exactly is the Takila statue?
At Takila in Maenbi Gewog, Lhuentse — 15 km by road from the Tangmachu bridge and a short drive south of Lhuentse town, on a hillside at about 2,070 m.
What else is at Takila besides the statue?
The statue is ringed by eight large and 108 small chortens, and the temple below it houses a monastic community of monks and nuns. Its founder, the late Khenpo Karpo, also intended the site to become a home for elderly people.
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