After that we returned to Shillong. The next day we took a bus from Shillong to reach Guwahati. From there we took a bus to reach Tezpur. Tezpur is a city and a municipal board in Sonitpur in the state of Assam. It is an ancient town on the banks of the river Brahmaputra and is the largest of the north bank towns. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Sonitpur district of Assam. The name Tezpur is derived from the Sanskrit words “Teza” meaning blood and “Pura” meaning town or city. Legend has it that the original name of this place was Sonitpur (“sonit” in sanskrit also means blood) but when the battle between Krishna’s army and Banasura’s army fought for the rescue of Aniruddha (who was the grandson of Lord Krishna) there was so much bloodshed that the whole place was stained in red. This led to the name of the place becoming Tezpur. From Tezpur we took permission to go to Tawang. The next day morning we hired a Sumo. On the way we saw the Sela Pass which is 14,000 feet high.

In the evening time we reached Tawang. Tawang district is an administrative district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Then, we went to the Tawang monastery. Founded by the Mera Lama Lodre Gyasto in accordance to the wishes of the 5th Dalai Lama, Nagwang Lobsang Gyatso, The Tawang monastery of the Gelugpa sect is the largest Buddhist monastery in India. The name Tawang means Chosen Horse. It is also known in another Tibetan name known as Galden Namgey Lhatse, which means a true name within a celestial paradise in a clear night. Located at an elevation of 10,000 feet (3,300m) in the district capital, Tawang Town, it is home to more than 600 Lamas. It also houses the Parkhang library: a collection of the 400-year-old Kangyurs which consists of 110 volumes with 400-500 pages in each bundle in addition to invaluable manuscripts. Other large collections include the Sutras, Tangym, Sungbhum, old books and other manuscripts, both handwritten and printed, many of them in gold. The collection has a total of 850 bundles. Dances and ceremonial celebrations are held in the courtyard, the most important of which is held on the night of Buddha Purnima. It also houses a small printing press. The most fascinating part is or the assembly hall – a three-storied building housing the temple and the 8.3-m high Golden Buddha.

We also visited Ani Gumpha which is which is run by women monks. Only ladies are allowed to stay in this monastery. Then, we went to see the Tawang War Memorial. Tawang War Memorial at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh is dedicated to the martyrs of the 1962 Sino-Indian war. The memorial is nestled among picturesque snow-capped peaks overlooking the imposing Tawang-Chu valley. The height of the war memorial is about 40 feet. The memorial was designed by the Army and was constructed at a cost of about Rs 15 lakh. The imposing structure in a stupa design is locally called “Namgyal Chortan” and has names of 2420 dead soldiers etched in gold on 32 black granite plagues.

China border is quite close from Tawang:

Note: There is an email link embedded within this post, please visit this post to email it. Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

This post was contributed by: Pawan