Tawang Monastery | An Incredible Place of Peace and Solitude

A magical charm is always present in every village situated in the valleys of the Himalayas. As the frosty wind sweeps over the snow-covered villages, an unearthly atmosphere created takes the mind to eternity. Such a spectacular township situated in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh is known as Tawan. This city is well-known for its culture, history, and great aesthetic monasteries. Among the monasteries, Tawang Monastery is the largest monastery and is situated in the valley of the Tawang Chu.

Front view of Tawang Monastery 

            

The full name of this ancient monastery is Tawang Galden Namgyal Lhatse. "Ta" means horse, and "wang" means chosen. Furthermore, "Gadan" means paradise, whereas "Namgyal" means complete victory. And "Lhatse" means divine. It is the Tibetan language, and the meaning of this monastery's full name is "A site chosen by the horse is the divine paradise of complete victory".

During 1680–1681, the monastery was laid the foundation stone by Merak Lama Lodre Gyatso to fulfill the wishes of the 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso. The monastery has associated with the Gelug school of Vajrayana Buddhism and had a religious coalition with the Drepung Monastery of Lhasa up to British rule in India. Its main building is three stories high, and the area is enclosed by a long compound wall that is 925 feet high. There are 65 residential buildings within the complex for monks, students, and guests. The library of the monastery has rich with ancient scriptures like Kangyur and Tengyur.

 

 Painting of Palden Lhamo

                                

Ancient myths:

This monastery has several mythical stories. According to the first legend, the 5th Dalai Lama wished to establish a monastery, and the wish was assigned to Merag Lama Lodre Gyatso. So, he set out with his horse to find a perfect spot. After much searching, Merag Lama Lodre Gyatso could not find any suitable place and was too tired to walk. So, he went into a cave and prayed for a perfect place. When he came out of the cave, he found that his horse was not there. After a while, he saw that his horse grazed near an abandoned palace built by king Kala Wangpo on a hilltop. The place is known as Tana Mandekhang. He considered it a divine dictation and decided to establish the monastery there. Mera Lama established the monastery there in late 1681 with the help of the local people.

A second legend is associated with a Buddhist saint known as Terton Pema Lingpa. He was a treasure hunter at an early age and came newly built monastery to work. The young Lingpa was desperate to have found nothing and took shelter in this monastery. Day by day, he felt a great attraction to spiritual life and became a monk. One day two young travelers came into this monastery and wanted to initiate. Lingpa gave them proper initiation and named them "Tamdin" and "Wang" respectively. Thus, the place came to be known as Tawang.

The third legend revolves around the white horse of the Prince of Lhasa. This celestial horse attracted everyone towards him. One day people were searching for this horse and found it at the present location of the monastery. It was grazing at that time. Later then, the people of the Monpa region started to worship the horse as well as the location. Further continuing this practice, local people built the monastery. 

The final legend talks about a female deity named Palden Lhamo. Apart from Lord Buddha, this monastery is also home to the goddess who is equivalent to the Hindu goddess Kali. Moreover, Palden Lhamo's appearance is also similar to devi Kali's. She has flaming eyes, and black is the color of her skin. She wears a dress made of tiger skin and has a garland of skulls around her neck. Like Lord Shiva, goddess Lhamo has a moon disc on the top of her head.

According to the myth, she used to live in Sri Lanka as the consort of a demon king. Although the king practiced human sacrifice, goddess Lhamo was against this evil act. So, she fled to Tawang from her kingdom and found peace in the non-violent principles of Lord Buddha.

 

 

A wise person in front of the Monastery 

                                  

History:

In Tawang, the Naingmapa, known as the Black Hat sect of Buddhism, had been dominating the region long before the arrival of the Gelug sect of Buddhism. The Nyingmapa community could not accept the new influence of the Gelug community and regarded them as enemies. They even show hostility towards the founder, Mark Lama. Not only the Black Hat community but also the Drukpas community in Bhutan did not like the Gelug community. Moreover, the Drukpas sect had a close relationship with the Nyingmapa sect. So, it was the cherished dream of both communities to control and dominate the Gelug community as well as Tawang. Kppining in mind strategic location and defense point of view, Mark Lama built the monastery like a fortress structure.

Around the mid-eighteenth century, the East India Company had its greedy eyes on the monastery. The company took over the area and made two treaties with the Tawang Monastery in 1844. On 24 February 1844, the company charged an annual fee of Rs 5000 from the Monpas for the return of Karlapara Duar. The company then entered into a second deal known as ShardukPens on 28 May of the same year. In that agreement, the local people had to obey any orders of the British administration and paid an annual fee of 2,526 rupees and seven annas. To collect monastic contributions, officials used to travel the plainest paths of Assam. From 1874 to 1875, Pandit Nain Singh Rawat, an Indian explorer and trigonometrical surveyor, visited the monastery several times. He said that the monastery had a parliamentary administrative form known as Kato. It did not depend on the parliamentary Dijonpan (head of the gold monastery) and the Lhasa government. Chief lamas of this monastery were members of the parliament.

Before 1914, Tawang was under the control of Tibet. According to the Treaty of Shimla of 1913 to 1914, British Raj acquired the area. Moreover, Tibet had ceded some part of its territory with the whole Tawang region to the British Raj. Since then, it has become an integrity part of India. However, China which has captured the whole of Tibet claims that this area is a part of China. To occupy the area, China had declared war against India in 1962. On 20 October 1962, Chinese troops attacked the Indian army from the northeastern border. The Indian army had to retreat and Chinese forces had been occupying Tawang with the monastery for six months. Some people believe that the reason behind this aggression was different. When Chinese troops began occupying Tibet, the 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet in March 1959 to avoid genocide. First, he had come to Gorsam Chorten to take a short rest then he took shelter in the Tawang Monastery for a few days before proceeding to Tezpur. Despite the strong protest from china, the Dalai Lama visited Tawang Monastery after five decades. On 8 November 2009, he arrived at the monastery and received emotional greetings from the local people. The Tawang monastery also greeted him with much fanfare and adulation. He also visited Tawang Monastery in 2017. (He is a great soul, and only morons can protest against him. It is my personal opinion.)

This monastery is currently home to more than 500 monks. Today the monastery runs more than 17 gompas in the West Kameng district. Two independent dzongs known as Darana dzong and Sanglem dzong control the monastery. And each dzong is led by a head monk. Sanglem dzong, known as Telung gompa, was built in the early eighteenth century while Darana dzong was built in 1831. These dzongs mainly work to collect taxes and propagate Buddhism among the Monpa and Sherdukpen. Today the resident head of the monastery is Galsi Rinpoche. The monastery has huge cultivated land in different areas like Soma and Nerguit. Local farmers cultivate the land and share their harvest with the monastery.

 

Inside view of the Monastery 

      

Architecture:

The entrance has a colorful gate structure known as Kakaling. Near the stone wall, this aesthetic gate has been built in the shape of a hut structure. There is a beautiful Kakaling feature mandala on the roof. And the interior walls have many paintings of deities and saints. The ninth mural of the guardian godhood of Bon religion is located in the southwest corner of the south wall. He is also known as the protector of the Tawang region. There is an open gate to the south of the main gate of Kakaling.

The northern wall gate that has two huge doors is the main entrance of this monastery. The outer wall length is around 925 feet and heights vary from 10 to 20 feet. Another massive gate is situated on the southern side of the monastery and has two giant doors. People believe that the 5th Dalai Lama gave a roll of thread to measure the exact area of this monastery.

This triple-storied monastery looks like a large mansion and has a large assembly hall, ten rooms for additional activities, and 65 residential quarters for students, Lamas, and monks. The monastery has a well-decorated school with a large center for studying Buddhist culture and has its water supply facility.

Ground floor of the monastery is used for different functions like special ritual dances. Many paintings of Thangkas Buddhist deities and saints have been decorated on walls. Curtains painted with Buddhist symbols have been pended from the balcony.     

Dukhang built in the time of 1860 to 1861 is the main temple of the monastery. An 18 feet statue of Buddha situated on the northern face of the assembly hall is in a lotus position. This Buddha statue has been installed over a platform and extends up to the first floor. A special silver casket positioned next to the Buddha statue holds a thangka of the goddess Palden Lhamo, a guardian deity of the monastery. According to the myth, the running blood from the nose of the 5th Dalai Lama was used to draw the painting of Palden Lhamo’s thangka.

 

Library:

The monastery has a great collection of ancient scriptures like Gyetengpa, Doduipa, Mamtha, Kangyur, Tengyur, and Zungdui in its library situated on the second floor. However, termites have destroyed some precious scriptures. This monastery has its printing press. Special papers made by local people and wooden blocks are used for printing religious books.

Ritual Dance