Tawang is a town in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, situated at an elevation of approximately 3,048 metres (10,000 ft) to the east of Bhutan. The town once served as the district headquarters of West Kameng district, and became the district headquarters of Tawang district when it was formed from West Kameng.
The area is part of the wider dispute between India and China concerning Arunachal Pradesh and is claimed by China as a part of Tibet.
Geography
Tawang town is located approximately 555 kilometres (345 mi) from Guwahati and 320 kilometres (200 mi) from Tezpur. Tawang has an average elevation of 2,669 metres (8,757 ft).
Climate
The climate is warm and temperate in Tawang. In winter, there is much less rainfall in Tawang than in summer. According to Köppen and Geiger, this climate is classified as Cwb. The average temperature in Tawang is 10.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 915 mm.
Demographics
As of the 2011 census, Tawang had a population of 11,202.
Tawang Monastery
The 8m tall statue of the Shakyamuni Buddha in the Tawang Monastery
Tawang Monastery was founded by the Mera Lama Lodre Gyatso in accordance to the wishes of the 5th Dalai Lama, Nagwang Lobsang Gyatso. It belongs to the Gelugpa sect and is the largest Buddhist monastery in India. The name Tawang (Tibetan: རྟ་དབང་, Wylie: Rta-dbang) means Horse Chosen. It is said to be the biggest Buddhist monastery in the world outside of Lhasa, Tibet. It is a major holy site for Tibetan Buddhists as it was the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama.
When the 14th Dalai Lama fled from Tibet to escape from Chinese army, he crossed into India on 30 March 1959 and spent some days at the Tawang Monastery before reaching Tezpur in Assam on 18 April. Prior to 1959, the Dalai Lama refused to recognize India's sovereignty over South Tibet of China including Tawang. In 2003, the Dalai Lama said that "Arunachal Pradesh was actually part of Tibet". In January 2007, he said that in 1914, both the Tibetan government and Britain recognized the McMahon Line. In 2008, he said that "Arunchal Pradesh was a part of India under the agreement signed by Tibetan and British representatives". The Dalai Lama visited Tawang on 8 November 2009. About 30,000 people, including those from neighbouring Nepal and Bhutan, attended his religious discourse.
Transportation
The nearest airports are at Salonibari Airport in Tezpur (319 kilometres (198 mi)) and Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati. By road, Tawang is 440 kilometres (270 mi) from capital Itanagar and is connected with buses run by APSRTC and private services. The nearest railway station is at Naharlagun, which is connected to major cities. A broad-gauge railway line connecting Missamari in Assam with Tawang has been proposed and a survey for the line was sanctioned in 2011.
Tourism
Sheets of paper left to dry on individual moulds on the mountain slope near Tawang, Arunchal Pradesh, 1914.
Tawang receives snowfall every year during December–January. There is also a ski lift in town. Visitors to Tawang, as is the case with the entire Arunachal Pradesh, require special Inner Line Permit (ILP) issued by the concerned government body and can be obtained from offices based in Kolkata, Guwahati, Tezpur, and New Delhi. Most of the travel from the plains is on a steep hill road journey, crossing Sela Pass at 4,176 metres (13,701 ft). Tourists can travel to Tawang from Tezpur, Assam by road and Tezpur has direct flights from Kolkata. In Oct 2014, two times a week helicopter service from Guwahati was started by the Arunachal Pradesh government.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawang
