Tawang Monastery

Tawang Monastery is the largest Buddhist monastery in India, a walled Gelug complex at about 3,000 m above the Tawang valley in western Arunachal Pradesh. Tawang Monastery was founded in 1680 to 1681 by Merak Lama Lodre Gyatso, in keeping with the wishes of the fifth Dalai Lama, and its Tibetan name, Galden Namgey Lhatse, means celestial paradise of the divine.

Tawang Monastery has long been the religious centre for the Monpa people of the region, and it still houses a large resident community of monks and novices. The sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, was born in 1683 at Urgelling, a short distance below the town, which gives Tawang a special place in Tibetan history. In 1959 the fourteenth Dalai Lama passed through Tawang on his flight into India. Today it runs a school for young monks and hosts the winter Torgya festival of masked cham dances.

What to see

• The main assembly hall (Dukhang), with its gilded Buddha statue about 8 m tall rising through two storeys
• The library, which holds old manuscripts and printed scriptures, some written in gold
• The painted gateway and the long walls enclosing monks' quarters on the hillside
• The courtyard where the Torgya and Losar dances take place
• Valley views south over Tawang town and the surrounding ridges

What to wear

Dress modestly inside Tawang Monastery, with shoulders and knees covered, and remove your hat and shoes before entering the prayer halls. Walk clockwise around shrines and prayer wheels. At 3,000 m the air is cold for most of the year, so bring a down jacket, a warm hat and gloves from October to March, and a rain shell in the summer monsoon. Sturdy shoes help on the stone steps and steep lanes. Monpa women traditionally wear a maroon wrap-around dress with a jacket, and men and women both wear the distinctive black felt cap of yak wool with tassel-like points that drain the rain.

Local food to try

Monpa and Tibetan food dominates in Tawang. Look for thukpa noodle soup, momos, and zan, a thick millet or maize dough eaten with vegetable or meat stew. Khura, a buckwheat pancake, is a breakfast staple, and butter tea is served in homes and monasteries alike. Chhurpi, hard dried yak cheese, is sold in the Old Market and the Nehru Market in town. Vegetarian options are easy to find, but most local stews are made with pork, yak or beef, so ask first.

Good to know

• Best time: March to June and September to November; winter brings snow and closures on the approach road
• Open daily, roughly 6am to 6pm; prayers are held early in the morning
• Entry is free and donations are welcome; the museum inside may charge a small fee
• Allow two hours, more if you arrive for morning prayers
• About 2 km above Tawang town; Tawang is roughly a two-day drive from Guwahati via Bomdila and Dirang
• Indian visitors need an Inner Line Permit and foreign nationals a Protected Area Permit; ask before photographing monks or interiors

Nearby places

The road to Tawang Monastery crosses Sela Pass, about 70 km to the south and worth a stop on the way up. For a longer circuit in Arunachal Pradesh, Ziro Valley lies several days east by road, and Guwahati's Kamakhya Temple is a natural first or last stop.