In and around Tawang

 The Road to the Tibet Border

The road to Tawang from Chug Valley took around 6 hours and we took the Sela Tunnel instead of going up the pass. We would cover Sela Lake on our way back. Passing by JaswantGarh War Memorial, we reached our homestay late evening.

Tseten Homestay is a lovely place located at the entrance of Tawang Town about 3 Kms before the Market area. This would be our base for the next 2 days as we explore Tawang and its nearby sights. Next day morning, we decided to travel to the Indo-china border as there was a possibility of rain the day after and we didn't want to take the chance.

Way to Holy Waterfalls

There are various border points and most tourists go to the Bumla Pass which is the route the Dalai Lama had taken to escape to India. However, we travelled up to Chumig Gyatse Holy Waterfalls, where recently a border road has been built. 

The Holy Waterfalls has significance in that it is a sacred place in Arunachal Pradesh which was blessed by Guru Padmasambhava (also known as Guru Rinpoche by the Tibetans), the great yogi and tantric master who lived in the 8th century AD. It is also the location where the Yangtse clash took place between the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army on the night of December 9, 2022. Violent clashes took place between the two armies which confronted each other with nail-studded clubs on a ridgeline above the waterfalls.

At the Waterfalls

To reach here, we travelled towards Bumla pass, then 6 kms before Bumla, one takes an eastward turn. The scenery around the lake and the pass (at an altitude of 4,200 meters) leaves you spellbound. Of course, one encounters a heavy military presence, due to the proximity of the border and the constant Chinese belligerence. 

The drive goes past Panga Teng Tso lake and we stop for a bit at Gribtsang Tso (Nagula Lake). Then after driving through the high plateau, one reaches grazing grounds and further ahead a thickly forested area with extremely old and tall pine trees. From there, we can see the gorges further down with the river flowing below after which sharp turns on the road high above climbs up to the ridge.

All through out the plateau, there are bunkers high above with large mounted guns dotting the landscape. Along with the army presence, there are the BRO workers toiling to build the roads in this inhospitable rugged landscape. 

Last Point

Once we reached the location of the falls, we were escorted by a few designated soldiers to the waterfalls and to the border wall from where we could see the Chinese border and tourists on the Chinese side. High above the ridge, we could see bunkers and locations where the Indian Army stands guard ready to ward off any new attack from the Chinese side. 

The clouds gathered and it started raining as we descended back to Tawang. All throughout we reflected on the terrain and the great job that our soldiers are doing to guard our borders and how lucky we were to be able to visit this remote corner of India that very few in India are even aware of. 

Tawang Monastery

Tawang Town

The next day was kept for going to the Tawang Monastery, the markets and areas around Tawang. Before going to the Monastery, we stopped at the Giant Buddha statue at the Center of the town. There are two side gateways which have statues of Sakhyamuni Buddha, Avalokiteswara and Padmasambhava on the roof.

Tawang Monastery is the largest monastery in India and was founded in 1680.  It belongs to the Gelug school (Yellow Hat) of Vajrayana Buddhism. The monastery is located on an elevated hill and is three stories high with the Prayer Hall at the top and residential areas for the monks below. Within the complex there are 65 residential buildings.

We were lucky to arrive when the morning prayers were going on and watched the monks and students reciting and chanting the scriptures accompanied by sound of Gongs, Cymbals and trumpets in between. Inside the Monastery is a Museum which is worth visiting.

Chagzam Bridge

Chagzam Bridge

In the evening, we drove down to the river to see Chagzam Bridge, which is an Iron bridge built by drupthob thangtong gyalpo who lived in the 15th Century. He is said to have built many iron chain suspension bridges in Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim and Arunachal, several of which are still in use today. He is often shown in murals with long white hair and holding some chain links from his bridges. A new iron bridge has been built beside the older one and it was nice spending some time on the new bridge and listening to the flow of the river as the sun set over the valley.

Nuranang or Jung Falls and Jaswant Singh War Memorial

Jung Falls

The next day, it was time to leave Tawang and go back to Dirang. 

Enroute we stopped by at the Jung Falls which is one of the most spectacular waterfalls that I have seen. It is a short walk from the parking area to the bottom of the falls. We were early and so managed to avoide the crowds. The water drops with a force and creates a mist which sprays out across a large area. A great place to relax before we reluctantly moved on to our van for the return journey.

50 Kms South East of Tawang is the War Memorial where Mahavir Chakra recipient Jaswant Singh Rawat fended off the People's Liberation Army during the Battle of Nuranang on 17 November 1962. The battle resulted in 300 Chinese casualties, whereas the 4th Garhwal Rifles lost two men and had eight wounded.

The story is that Rawat's company retreated, but Rawat remained and kept up the fight with the help of two local Monpa girls named Sela and Nura. Rushing from position to position, Rawat held off the enemy for 72 hours. Later, Sela was killed and Noora captured. Sela, who died helping Jaswant was honored by naming the Sela Pass, Sela Tunnel and Sela Lake in her name and Nuranang Falls was named after Nura.

The war memorial had a steady stream of visitors, both civilians and soldiers from the armed forces. It is a somber place and a powerful reminder of how ordinary people can become heroes and inspire others for generations to come. We spent about an hour at the place before we boarded our vehicle back to Dirang.