Excursion

Tawang | Buddhist Pilgrimage | Buddhist Gompa | Itanagar | Parasuram Kund | Orchid Tourism

Tawang
There are beautiful lakes around Tawang. One is Pankang Teng Tso (P.T. Tso ) lake. It is a fetching heaven for tourist only 17 KM away from maddening crowd of township. It is a beautiful natural site and provide tourist a lucky chance for deep communion with nature. Other eye catching lakes are Sangetser lake , Banggachang lake.

With its centuries-old great fortress monastery against the dramatic setting of the snow-mantled peaks, Tawang is accessible by car in a dramatic drive through mesmeric alpine country. The sinuous road to Tawang passes through the dragon gates on the awesome heights of the great Sela Pass ( 13,714 ft). Jaswantgarh located here is a memorial to the brave soldier who single-handedly tried to hold of the approaching Chinese from the Pass during the 1962 Indo-Chinese war. The stupa-like Tawang War Memorial also salutes the heroes of the war.

There's a strong Tibetan presence in Tawang. Prayer flags flutter in the breeze. Monks in their soft robes slip silently through the market square attending their daily chores. There are 500 of them attached to the great monastery on its dramatic perch on the spur, a short distance from the main town. It is supposed to be the biggest monastery after Lhasa's Potala. The current Dalai Lama is said to have passed through the township on his escape from Tibet. The Urgelling Monastery here is also associated with the birth of the 6'" Dalai Lama. It features his preserved footprints and fingerprints, which are much revered by Buddhist devotees.

The great Tawang Monastery, with its dramatic background is eye-catching. A stunning 8 m high gilded statue of Buddha dominates the sanctum. The great rotating prayer wheels...... priceless tangkhas......the drone of the monks in prayer......sputtering butter-lamps are an evocative vision. Its assembly hall is massive - rising 3 stories high. Attached to the monastery is a library with priceless manuscripts, scriptures and literature: there's a school. huts for the monks and a great community kitchen. Its museum has rare and beautiful tangkhas and ritual vessels amongst other important artifacts. including some possessions of the 6"' Dalai Lama.

The craft centre in Tawang sells beautiful masks, hand-woven carpets, tangkhas. jewellery in silver, turquoise, coral and amber, chubasthe local dress and delightfully affordable mementos.

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Buddhist Pilgrimage
The Taktsang monastery, 45 km from Tawang, is also known as the Tiger's Den. Guru Padmasambhava is supposed to have visited this ancient monastery in the 5"' century. Some of the other important monasteries are the Rigyalling monastery in the deep cover of lush forest. One of the oldest Am Gompa [nunneries) is the Brahma dung chung Am Gompa, located 12 km from Tawang. Commissioned by Karchen Yeshi Geiek in 1595, it houses about 45 nuns. The Gyanganga Ani Gompa is about 5 km from town and has about 50 nuns living here. Built by Gonpaste Rimpoche, the Singsur Ani Gompa, home to 45 nuns, is 28 km from Tawang.

The 12th century Gorsam Chorten at Zemithang, the largest in the area, is 92 km from Tawang.

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Buddhist Gompa
Tawang Monastery or Gompa also known as the 'Galden Namgyal Lhatse', is a 400 year old Buddhist monastery of the Mahayana sect, built in the 17th century. It is situated at a height of 3500 meters or 10,000 ft at the Bhutan border. The monastery was founded by a monk, Mera Lama, a contemporary of the fifth Dalai Lama. It is a vast complex of 65 buildings - a treasure house of old scriptures, priceless images, painted tapestries, books and collection of gold lettered Buddhist scriptures. The ‘Parkhang’ hall of the monastery houses the library which holds the rare hand written and block-printed Thankas or manuscripts of revered books like 'Tangym', 'Kangyur' and 'Sungbhum'. The other rare works of Buddhist literature include 108 gold-embossed manuscripts of the 'Teaching of Lord Buddha' and 225 volumes of the explanations of Buddha’s teachings covered with specially designed moth - proof silk adorned with paintings. There is a towering 18 ft high gilded statue of the Buddha in the monastery complex.

The Tawang Monastery is associated with the famous Torgva festival which is held in the eleventh Monpa month called the Dawa Chukchipah(i.e Dec-Jan as per the Buddhist). There is also a Craft Centre here producing fine woolen carpets of colourful designs.

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Itanagar
The land of the dawnlit mountains, Itanagar, Arunachal's capital is also its biggest town. The Jawaharlal Nehru Museum has archaeological finds from Ita Fort to which you can trek up. Housed here is also an interesting collection of arts and crafts, jewellery, textiles, and a variety of tribal headgear, which gives you an insight into Arunachal's tribal culture. Open: Tue-Sun; 10 am-5 pin. Try the local brew Apong, a rice beer that's drunk warm. You might stumble upon some of the Nyishi tribals who live around here. You'll recognize them by their massive knot of hair rolled into a bun over their forehead. In their headdress they wear feathers of the great hornbill. Arunachal's signature bird. Shop at the craft emporium for local mementos. Just 6 km away is the picturesque setting of Ganga Lake (Gekar Sinyi).

Itanagar doesn't have an airport. However, there are airports at Tezu. Pasighat. Along. DaporiJO, Ziro and Lilaban, the nearest. Itanagar is connected by road to the other state capitals in the North East. The convenient railheads are Harmuty (33 km) and North Lakhimpur (60 km). It is best to visit from October to May.

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This sleepy hollow on the Arunachal-Assam border, becomes a hive of activity during the Makar Sankranti festival. Located 20 km from Tezu. the Lohit district is home to the Mishmi, Singhpos and Khampti tribes. Roing (district headquarters of the Dibang valley) is 56 kmaway whose original inhabitants are the ldu Mishmi tribe. Spending time at a tribal home is the highpoint of a visit here. Close to Roing is also the home of Rukmini, Lord Krishna's wife at the archaeological remains at Vismaknagar.

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Orchid Tourism
Arunachal Pradesh is considered to be the "nature's treasure trove" and home to orchids, known for their exquisitely beautiful blooms, from one of the dominant taxa with more than six hundred species, occurring in varying elevations and climatic conditions throughout the state. This particular gift of nature offers great opportunity to promote "nature tourism" in Arunachal Pradesh .

The state has a wonderful world of orchids that have adorned the forests making the state an "Orchid Paradise" of our country. Arunachal Pradesh, which is considered to be the "nature's treasure trove" has a great potential in promoting nature tourism and orchids have a greater role to play as far as Arunachal Pradesh is concerned.

Orchids – A nature's gift
Arunachal Pradesh situated in the extreme North East corner of India is indeed an enchanting land with rich, varied and colorful flora and fauna. The lush green forests spread over numerous hills rising from about 100m MSL to a height of about 7000 m encamped with eternal snow and criss - crossed by numerous rivers, provide congenial environment to myriads of life - forms that coexist harmoniously. A striking feature of the enormous vegetation that one finds here are lovely orchids, which bloom in profusion with myriads of colours and forms, a truly wonderful gift of mother nature.

Orchids are highly evolved group of plants occupying a top position in the plant kingdom as the human beings do in animal kingdom. They have a diverse habit, bizarre and curious flower structure with brilliant colours adding beauty to the land and the landscape. The very fact that there are about 20, 000 species distributed all over the world speaks of their diversity and varied nature having a realm of their own.

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