Tawang in a Day !!

Tawang is a quirky little town which is thankfully still offbeat. It is not a typical tourist destination, nothing to shop for, no top 10 things to do or even top 10 places to see. If you arm yourself with a strict itinerary you might miss the point and this beautiful place too and end up feeling disappointed. But it’s a beautiful town to let your hair down and explore leisurely. Most places around Tawang, have road access and Borders Road Organization (BRO) have done a good job in keeping them motorable through the year and like their boards say, “Yes Bro we are proud of you’.

On a lighter note, BRO boards read something like this: 'BRO, the proud of the nation" "BRO, connecting people", and I spent half my journey wondering who this BRO is, who is working so hard to connect people and the one who the nation is proud of !!!

Golden Buddha

Tawang is believed to have derived its name from the Grandiose Tawang Monastery perched on the edge of the ridge running along the western part of Tawang township. ‘Ta’ means Horse and ‘Wang’ means Chosen. As the legend goes the site of the present Monastery is believed to have been chosen by a horse owned by Merag Lama Lodre Gyatso who was on a search for an appropriate place to establish a Monastery but was unable to locate any appropriate site. So he finally decided to sit on prayer for guidance of divine power. As he opened his eyes after prayer, he found his horse missing. So, wearily he went out searching for his horse and found it on the top of hill known as Tana Mandekhang where once stood the palace of King Kala Wangpo. Believing it to be a good omen, Mera lama Lodre Gyatso decided to initiate work for building of the monastery with the help of the people. The Monastery thus was founded by Mera Lama Lodre Gyatso in late 1681.

Tawang Monastery

 However, there is also another belief of derivation on the name ‘Tawang’. The great treasure revealer, Terton Pemalingpa gave initiations such as Tamdin and Ka-gyad and hence the place came to be known as Tawang. ‘Ta’ an abbreviation of Tamdin; ‘Wang’ means Initiation.

If you are not in a hurry to finish Tawang in a day, you can take a walk around to reach most of the places. At 10000 ft you will obviously encounter many scenic views of the mountains and valleys around and even some sporadic falls.

Tawang Monastery is the second largest in Asia and the largest in this area controlling 17 Gompas or monasteries in the region. It houses the huge 28 ft Golden Buddha is a pride of tawang and has long been its poster boy. The monastery also houses a museum with artifacts of the yester years, rare inscribes and a picture display of events and dignitaries in the monastery. The gompa also houses a big library with an impressive collection of ancient books and manuscripts. Tawang is dotted with a number of gompas and a number of them have the primary deity has their various other Gods and not just the Buddha. I’m sure the madhubani paintings there carry all of which not possible for me to interpret or understand from the briefing I got. But it definitely seemed interesting and I had owed myself to look it up.

Tawang through my eyes

A significant event that had happened in tawang was when china army had captured it the 1962 war. The history of this event and the stories of bravery displayed by the Indian army during the war are captured in two places – The War memorial and the Jaswant Garh. Jaswant singh’s bravery of holding the Chinese army at bay for more than 72 hours with a very small battalion is a story that the localities and the army men take great pride in narrating. He was posthumously awarded Param Vir Chakra by the Indian Govt and the photos of this event as well are featured in the memorial. War memorial also houses a souvenir shop for the tourists.China even to this day, claims Arunchal Pradesh to be a part of China, esp because of the historical significance of Tawang.

Tawang has a craft centre is a place where crafts men weave cloth and artists make monpa masks in a traditional way. This is one of the very places in India where authentic and traditional Tibetan crafts are made and can be bought. If you are looking for a souvenir from the trip, this will probably be your best bet to get something that’s unique and local.

Tawang City

Best Time to Visit:

April to October is the best time to visit Tawang when the weather is mild and pleasant. Summer season starts from March and ends in June. Temperature ranges from 5- 22 degrees Celsius. Hottest month of the year is usually June. Tawang gets rainfall between July to October. December, January and February constitute winter season and is the best to catch some snow although it may be really cold around then. Temperatures range from a minimum of -2 degrees Celsius and can go up to a maximum of around 5 degrees Celsius during this time.

Commuting in Tawang at the time of snow is not for the light hearted or inexperienced. even the most adventurous tourists get rescued by the Indian Army when they get stranded in roads and on you best days  the commute can be much longer than the usual 12 – 14 hours it takes from Tezpur in takes during the normal times. Roads with no snow can be several times more riskier and are a strict no no unless you are experienced driving is such conditions. Indian army battalions and their huge supplies truck are a un missable sight on the road and are as always very friendly and helpful.

Source : www.tawang.nic.in