Glyptotermes chiraharitae n. sp., a new dampwood termite (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae) is described from Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary, an evergreen forest of South India, based on the characters of imagoes, soldiers and pseudoworkers. The species is unique in the genus due to the following combination of characters seen in their soldiers: frons inclined sharply and only with a weak depression and a bilobed impression medially, frontal protuberances weak, epicranial suture or Y-suture indistinct and antennae with 12 segments. 95% of Glyptotermes Froggatt, 1897, of the Oriental Region are endemic. A dichotomous key to the soldiers of the Glyptotermes spp. from India is also provided here.