TOP MUST VISIT TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN TAWANG THAT I VISITED



Photo Travelogue :
Read first part - Here!


I had reached Tawang late at night, and it was almost 1 am when I finally went to sleep, with great difficulty. BRRRR...it was so cold even under three blankets and two sweaters, my whole body had got numb. I wonder, how these people live in such cold places. Anyways, since it gets morning in this eastern state quite early ~ land of the rising sun as it is, I was up soon too ( within 4-5 hours of going to sleep ), as I was planning to go outskirts of the city to its various attractions.

Tawang, the most ideal location for any traveller ~ who loves both adventures as well as mesmerising and relaxing views, has a host of attractions, but most of them are located couple of kilometres outside the town, in different directions. They are the Sangetsar or Madhuri Lake, P.T Tso Lake, Nuranang/Jang Falls ( 100ft ), Gorichen Peak ( highest in AP ), Gorsam Chorten, Thinbu Hot Spring, Bumla Paas, Craft Centre ( within city ) etc, and the best time to travel to these are in the summer months ( except the last ). However, since I was in Tawang in mid-Jan, it was the cold season then, when most roads would be covered in snow and be pretty inaccessible.

When I woke in the morning, the hotel walas were kind enough to bring me two buckets of hot water, as their water tanks had gotten frozen :o After a quick bath, I got ready and went to the Sumo stand ( local ), which was not far from my hotel, that goes to some of these places. But none of them were willing to go, inspite of money being offered, because, the roads were all bad and there were all kinds of landslides, avalanches etc and they didn't want to take any risk. So, I was left only with the option to visit attractions within the town itself. I was disappointed, but there was nothing I could do. They were the locals and knew their areas best. So, hopping in an auto, I asked it to take me to the spots within the town. He'd do it for Rs.200/- which I found quite cheap. So, here are some of the top must visit Tawang attractions that I visited that morning. The first two I could visit during my journey itself; they fall enroute ~ whether going to or coming from Tawang!


Welcome!!! These colourful 'Dragon' gates are pretty much everywhere around the city.


1...
SELA PASS & SELA LAKE...

this high-altitude mountain pass at 13680 ft connects Tawang to Guwahati....

2...
JASWANTGARH WAR MEMORIAL...

in honor of late Jaswant Singh Rawat, narrating his bravery in fighting the chinese, it falls mid-way between Sela pass and Tawang, at 10,000 feet, it has a temple-like camouflaged structure.

3..
THE GIANT BUDDHA STATUE...

shining in gold, towering over the entire town, situated near the circuit house, even if you don't go up the hill to visit it, it'll still gaze at you no matter which corner of the town you're in...looks amazing...it peeped at me through my hotel window as well ( 2nd pic, clicked from my hotel )

4...
TAWANG MONASTERY - LARGEST GOMPA IN INDIA...

the road that goes to the Monastery...


the gate...


in memory of one of the monks...near the entrance...


Tawang Gaden Namgyal Lhatse...


Tawang Monastery, located in Tawang city in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, is the largest monastery in India and second largest in the world after the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. A monk in the monastery explained to me that the monastery is supposedly built over a site of a lake, which still exists, underneath. Even though its supposedly largest monastery, I didn't see many monks - except a few inside the main hall. Perhaps, we were too early; they were on the way?


the gigantic Buddha statue inside its huge main hall...( one thing puzzles me why buddhism ( also jainism ) has such large statues, when Lord Buddha ( also Mahavir Jain ) had ( both ) left hinduism primarily because he/they was/were against idol/statue worship, huh! religion got corrupted? )


interesting art-work or paintings (?) in its walls... Manadala at the "Kakaling" entrance...

5...
TAWANG MONASTERY MUSEUM...

there's a museum next to the monastery...



old religious texts, relics and lots of artefacts related to Buddhism are here...


view of tawang town from the monastery...

6...
JOGINDER SINGH OR TAWANG WAR MEMORIAL...

located 1 km from the town, the road that goes to the war memorial...


the gate, from inside...




names of the soldiers who laid down their lives...over 2000+


the 1962 Indo-China war, explained...


the insides and the outsides...
( inside are four pots, where soil from the spots where the soldiers were killed was collected )


was this real or symbolic? hmmm...

7...
URGELLING GOMPA - THE BIRTH PLACE OF VI ( SIXTH ) DALAI LAMA...

the entrance to the monastery...a small path goes from here...


to the house where the 6th Dalai Lama was born, in the year 1683...


lots of prayer wheels here...


and, colourful prayer flags flying...


a giant prayer wheel at the monastery site...


moi, trying to spin it...forgot to say any prayers though :|

8...
BUMLA DWAR...

I wanted to go to bumla, but had to be satisfied seeing the entrance only...the road goes up to Bumla Pass, at 15,200 ft, which is 37kms away near the chinese border... a special permit is required to go there - must have an army stamp on it, else, won't be allowed. My auto wala had some interesting tales to tell about the protocols followed by both the countries there.

9....
THE BREATHTAKING VIEWS OF THE MIGHTY HIMALAYAS...

tawang is just the right place to see these looming black mountains with their snowy-peaks...

10...
ARMY SHELTERS...

you find them in the entire route, visit one of them if they allow a peak...



finally, lets have some thupka...

I winded up my tawang attractions with some authentic 'thupka' at a restaurant where the auto dropped me. However, I was not done yet! It was only around 12pm, I had plenty of time left. I strolled about the town till almost dark, walking its various lanes, markets etc, clicking pics.


Tawang is a town in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, situated at an elevation of approx 3,048 metres ( 10,000ft ) to the east of Bhutan. The town once served as the district headquarters of West Kameng district, and became the district headquarters of Tawang district when it was formed from West Kameng ( wiki ).

Address : Tawang Monastery, Cona, Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh 790104,
Tawang War Memorial, Cona, Shannan, Arunachal Pradesh 790104
Read next part - Here! Stay tuned for all my road, rail, flight, cruise & walk trips.
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