Tawang, India - Tawang Monastery, Ani Gonpa and some exceptional adventure!

This is the second and the final part of my Tawang tales...

The first day ended on a very satisfying note, and I slept like a dog, whiskey being the key contributor, apart from the extreme cold. The second day started early on, and I was on the road sipping chai at 6:30 am. I could see the Tawang monastery from there and it looked far and almost floating in the clouds. The walk to the monastery is breathtakingly beautiful, and as I walked through I could see the town coming alive in front of my eyes.

Kids of Tawang

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Hindi is fairly common and I spoke with many on the way, mainly to ask for directions and to know more about the place. I had a few mini-monks walking with me, but they were fast and easily overtook me. I clicked everything around, the people, their houses as well as their pets. My excitement kept growing as the famed monastery came closer and closer to me.

I tried chasing this young monk, and failed!

On the way to the monastery

Tawang monastery is the second largest monastery in the world, second only to Lhasa. As the Chinese overcame the Tibetian resistance, Dalai Lama fled to India and spent some time here. Once a part of Tibet, it’s now in India though China often claims it to be its own. The monastery was founded by Merag lama Lodre Gyatso in the 17th Century and has been a prominent one since then.

Tawang Monastery

Tawang Monastery

Tawang Monastery

As expected the monastery is huge, and fortunately when I was there it was practically empty. I reached even before the prayer time, and got to spend the time looking around in detail at everything. There was little I could understand though, being unaware of most Buddhist deities; took help from a very helpful young monk who gave me a few updates on the building as well as on some of the Buddhist gods. It was very cold outside and I took refuge under the morning sun.

Gates closed when I reached

Finally open!

The interiors are filled with Buddhist style of painting and the one colour that stays with you long afterward is red, there is red practically everywhere. The lights are all natural and it a great feeling to just go and sit at the back and relax as you hear the morning chants. There was hardly anyone and everything was blissfully peaceful. For me it was a moment to be savored.

Buddha inside

The very red interiors

The alter (almost)

Lights inside

Wall painting

Wall painting

Wall painting

View from the second storey

There is also a museum which should not be missed. I learnt the most about the place from the care-taker of the museum. There was no one else around and he gave me a personalized tour of the place, here is a picture of one of the old locks there. There are numerous other artifacts which are worth looking at and should not be missed.

The antique lock at the museum

I had little idea of what to do next and took help from my friends at the monastery; and my plan was updated with another monastery a few kilometers outside the town called Ani Gonpa – a monastery only for the women. Now, reaching the monastery was a major challenge, and the trek is quite an amazing one. Its right across the valley from the Tawang monastery, and when I saw it for the first time, it looked like an impossible task. One has to climb down the valley with steep slopes and hardly any trail to follow; often I had to just slide down to go down (always fearing about my return journey). I experimented a lot before I could cover the whole route. Down in the valley there is a bridge and after that the route is simpler, with steps leading all the way to the gonpa, at this stage I even had some company of some young trainee monks.

A local lady who gave me directions to Ani gonpa

The bridge in the valley

Ani Gonpa - almost there!

One I was in there, I was surprised to find the gonpa open and no one inside. I guess it’s not a popular destination for tourists (though I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Tawang), so the monks here do not often expect visitors. The gonpa is huge with living quarters right behind the prayer hall. I was surprised that they didn’t mind a man there, asking question and taking pictures. I found none who knew Hindi here and so my story about the place remained incomplete.

Interiors of Ani gonpa

Outside from inside

Interiors of Ani gonpa

View outside the gonpa

A small girl monk

Walking back to the town was easier because I knew what to expect, though it took me much longer to cover the distance. I had two more monks with me, and it was useful to follow their tactics for climbing the hills.

I ended the day with a lot more walking in the town, visiting the Government Guest House and finally visiting the War Memorial dedicated to the war heroes of the 1965 Indo-China war.

War Memorial

Ah! India!

Tawang from the memorial

The final day also started early in the morning and I reached Tejpur late in the evening after the arduous 12 hour journey. I left for Guwahati (my base for the trip) in the night itself and my story further continues here.

Read about my first day in Tawang here.

-- Siddhartha Joshi