Urgelling Monastery (6th Dalai Lama's Birthplace)
Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, India
Nearby attractions
Khinmey & Thongmen Gompas, Tawang
Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
The lesser-known Nyingma and Gelug gompas around Tawang — Khinmey's tantric monastery and Thongmen's hillside shrine, quiet and mural-rich.
Losar & Torgya Festivals, Tawang
Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
The Monpa Buddhist new year (Losar) and the great Torgya monastic festival — masked cham dances, butter sculptures and ritual at Tawang Monastery.
Tawang Monastery
Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
India's largest monastery crowns a 3,000-m spur — a fortress of whitewashed walls sheltering 450 monks, an 8-m gilded Buddha and priceless thangkas, gazing across cloud-filled valleys to snow peaks on the old Tibet road.
Tawang Town & War Memorial
Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
The border town below the great monastery — the stupa-shaped War Memorial to the 1962 fallen, handicraft markets and a base for every high-mountain trip.
Tawang Monastery Museum & Library
Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
Inside India's largest monastery — the museum of thangkas, manuscripts and relics, and the great library of Buddhist scriptures in gold-lettered volumes.
Tawang Craft Centre & Monpa Handmade Paper
Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
The revived Monpa handmade-paper craft and the Tawang handicraft centre — carpets, thangkas, wood-carving and the woollen weaves of the high Buddhist valleys.
Ani Gompa (Brahma-dung-chung Nunnery)
Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
One of Arunachal's oldest nunneries on a hillside above Tawang — home to Buddhist nuns, with sweeping valley views and a peaceful prayer hall.
Pankang Teng Tso (PTSO) Lake
Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
A serene alpine lake at 3,700 m on the Bum La road — mirror-still, ringed by rhododendron and snow, a favourite winter-freeze and camping spot near Tawang.
Taktsang Gompa & Bap Teng Kang Falls
Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
A cliff-side 'tiger's nest' gompa where Guru Padmasambhava is said to have meditated, and a great waterfall on the Bum La road — Tawang's sacred wild edge.
Madhuri Lake (Sangetsar Tso)
Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
A high glacial lake of tree stumps rising from turquoise water, formed by a 1950 earthquake — near the China border, nicknamed for a Bollywood shoot.
Y-Junction & Shonga-tser Meadows, Tawang
Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
The high road-junction beyond Tawang toward Bum La and Sangetsar — snow-fed meadows, yak pastures and the wild frontier scenery of the 4,000-m country.
Tawang–Bum La Snow & High-Pass Circuit
Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
The great high-altitude loop above Tawang — Bum La, PTSO, Sangetsar and Y-Junction — a day of frozen lakes, army posts and border snowfields at 4,000 m+.