Tawang :: Arunachal Pradesh

Situated at a height of more than 3000 meters, Tawang is renowned for its 400 year old Buddhist Monastery, the biggest Buddhist monastery in India. Eighty-two percent of Arunachal is covered by forests and in these green mountains covered with blissful snow there are only 13 people to a square kilometre. This is truly the neighbourhood of the wanderer. Tawang is about space, about mountains that cradle colourful monasteries from within which, like incense, the echo of never-ending chants rise to the heavens. Within the walls of these temples are captivating frescoes.

HOW TO GET THERE

■ From Tezpur, 350 km, take the scenic Bomdila-Bhalukpong route to Tawang. It goes through the stunning Sela Pass.

WHERE TO STAY

■ The Deputy Commissioner of Tawang can be contacted beforehand for accommodation at the Circuit House.

Tawang Monastry

WHERE TO EAT

■ The Circuit House will provide food. Piping hot beef thukpa—a Tibetan soup with big chunks of meat and vegetables—and a cup of hot butter tea to warm the body are must trys.

WHAT TO SEE

■ Tawang Ganden Namgyal Lhatse, thefamous Tawang Monastery where for 400 years the faithful have found their peace. They're still there: on their knees, saffron clad, hands clasped and eyes closed, at the feet of the Buddha, chanting chants that have come down a thousand years. Within the walls of its 65 buildings, where the priests and the nuns of Tawang live, the chants are written in gold in the scriptures preserved for posterity. Tawang is the land of the Monpas and the Sherdukpen tribes, followers of the Gelupa Sect of the Mahayana School of Buddhism.
■ The surrounding Tawang Chu Valley is an extension of the tranquillity of the monastery, with its deep forests and gurgling streams, surrounded by mountains that reach over 12,000 ft into the sky.
■ On the way to Tawang one crosses the breathtaking Sela Pass. At 14,000 ft, it is the world's second highes