Tawang Monastery
Interesting facts
- A stone slab on the front porch bears a footprint said to have been left by Chitenpa, a water carrier who stamped it on finishing his service.
- Among the murals of the Kakaling gate is Ningmecahn, a protector deity from the pre-Buddhist Bon religion, regarded as guardian of the Tawang region.
- The monastery's living quarters were built for about 700 monks; around 450 lived here in 2010.
- In every page of the scripture known as Gyentongpa, kept in the library, the letters are washed in gold.
- The surveyor Nain Singh, who visited in 1874โ75, reported that the monastery governed itself through a council of its chief lamas called the Kato.
- In 1844 the monastery signed two agreements with the East India Company, giving up claims in the Assam foothills in return for annual payments.
- By old custom, a family with three sons sent the middle one to the monastery, and a family with two sons sent the younger.
- The monastery oversees 17 smaller gompas in West Kameng district and two dzongs, each run by a monk.
- A manuscript conservation centre founded at the monastery in 2006 has catalogued about 200 old manuscripts.
- Tawang is one of the few major Tibetan Buddhist monasteries that came through the Cultural Revolution era entirely undamaged.
Why it is worth it
Tawang Monastery spreads along a mountain spur at about 3,000 metres, looking out over the valley of the Tawang Chu with its snow peaks and conifer forests. It is the largest Buddhist monastery in India, and its Tibetan name, Gaden Namgyal Lhatse, means "divine paradise of complete victory".
It was founded in 1680โ81 by Merak Lama Lodre Gyatso at the wish of the 5th Dalai Lama, and belongs to the Gelug school, long linked to Drepung Monastery in Lhasa. Local tradition says a horse chose the site: unable to find a suitable place, the lama withdrew into a cave to pray, and when he came out his horse had wandered off and was found grazing on this hilltop, which he took as a sign. The name Tawang is often read as "chosen by the horse". Another legend holds that the 5th Dalai Lama sent a ball of yarn whose length was to mark the line of the walls. Because rival schools and Bhutanese forces contested the area, the complex was built like a fortress, guarded by steep ravines on its southern and western sides.
Visitors enter through the Kakaling, a gate building with mandalas on its ceiling and murals of deities on its walls, into what is in effect a small town: a three-storey main building, an assembly hall, ten other structures and 65 residential quarters, all inside a wall about 280 metres long. The assembly hall, or Dukhang, built in 1860โ61 and renovated in 2002, holds a gilded Buddha about 5.5 metres tall, seated in the lotus position with his head reaching the upper floor. Beside it a silver casket keeps a thangka of the protective goddess Palden Lhamo, said to have been painted with blood from the nose of the 5th Dalai Lama. The entire second floor is a library of Kangyur and Tengyur volumes, including a handwritten set of 125 volumes lettered in gold, and the monks still print religious books from wooden blocks on locally made paper.
The monastery's history follows the shifting Himalayan frontier. Under the Simla Agreement of 1914 the region passed from Tibetan to British control; in 1959 the 14th Dalai Lama sheltered here for a few days after his flight from Tibet; and during the 1962 war Chinese troops held Tawang for six months without damaging the monastery. Each January its courtyard fills for Torgya, a three-day festival of masked dances in animal forms meant to drive away evil spirits.
Getting there
The monastery stands just above the town of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, India. The nearest railhead is Bhalukpong, about 280 km away by road. The nearest airport is Tezpur Airport (TEZ) in Assam, about 134 km away in a straight line and about 350 km by mountain road.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Tawang Monastery is a Buddhist monastery located in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, India. It is the largest Buddhist monastery in the country. It is situated in the valley of the Tawang Chu, in close proximity to the Chinese and Bhutanese border.
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