Arunachal Pradesh Buddhist Gompa
Buddhist Gompa at Arunachal Pradesh , Tawang Monastery, is an aesthetically well maintained place of worship for people with Buddhist faith, called GaldenMangyalLhatse, positioned in a serene atmosphere, with idols and images of divinity kept for Prayers and meditation. Buddhist Gompasare places for learning, awakening and reaching ecclesial achievements by constant efforts, continuous trials and approbations, which are established mostly in countries like Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan and India. Gompas, also referred as lings, may also be stupas. They are constructed of varied designs according to region they are established, in some cases it can just be a hall for meditation.
Buddhist Gompas are typically monasteries and similar places of Buddhist learning avenues. Generally all the meditation rooms of Buddhists are called Gompas, while monasteries will have living quarters too.
History
The TawangMonassteryor BuddhistGompa came up in the 17th Century in Bhutan’s border, established by Mera Lama, who was the contemporary of fifth Dalai Lama.
Buddha is not the name of Gautam Buddha, but was a title given to him to mean’ one who is awake’ and He travelled through many places to inculcate the method of awakening by others. For that purpose, he developed monasteries in the Northern sections of India, which included Nepal, Sikkim, Tibet, Bhutan etc, when Buddhist Gampas emerged.
Architecture
Tawang Monastery in Arunachal Pradesh is a vast complex composed of 65 buildings and in possession of old scriptures, painted tapestries, wonderful collection of gold lettered Buddhist Scriptures.
TawangMonastery’s Parkhang hall is so constructed to house a library which maintains the rare hand written Thankas which are block-printed. The Parkang Hall also holds manuscripts of revered and rare book collectons such as Tangym, Sungbhum and Kangyur. The library houses other rare works of Buddhist literature, which include 108 gold-embossed manuscripts of 'Teaching of Lord Buddha' and explanations of Buddha’s teachings in 225 volumes , which are covered with specially designed moth - proof material. These covers are also very beautifully adorned with wonderful silk paintings.
In the centre of the Hall, there is an 18 ft high gilded statue of the Buddha absorbing everybody’s attention.
The northern side entrance along the ridge is through the gate Kakaling, which is of hut-like structure and its walls are made of stone. The ceiling of the Kakaling is adorned with Mandala paintings, while the inner walls bear the pictures of saints and divine images.
There are several structures in Buddhist Gompa, the prominent among them being Dukhang, which is the assembly hall. This is a three storeyed complex housing a temple and also a Labrang, ab Abbot establishment. The interior of this premises is equally beautiful with works of art.
Gompas and Monasteries generally follow huge and expansive size of architecture, comparable to Palaces, maintaining uniqueness in any place they are established, which architecture Tawang Monastery has also adopted.
At the back of Gompa, there is a Court, which is a stone structure with a slab to entertain devotees with religious dances and ritual performances. Par-Khang, the three storeyed building, which is the Library is situated in the western side of the Court.
The interior design of a Gompa will vary according to the region in which it is constructed. But, there will always a common design, which would have the meditation hall in the centre and benches or sitting arrangement around for the monks to do their Prayers and Meditation, while Buddha Murti or Thangka will be in the centre. In the Gompa architecture ancient principles of environmental metaphysics are always adopted to keep the Gompa in a serene atmosphere.
With regard to the Eye of Buddha statue, the eyes are painted in such a manner that the followers would not dare to see Buddha’s eyes directly.
Festival
The Buddhist Gompas are more focussed on ritualistic observations and meditation programmes. However there are some festivals, such as Chaam festival held in Monasteries every year. In such festivals Buddhist monks would dress up as mythological characters and dance for the enlightenment of the devotees.
The Tawang Monastery celebrates a famous festival called Torgva festival, which is conducted in the eleventh Monpa month of Buddhist calendar, DawaChukchipah, which comes in Dec-Jan period.
How to Reach
Air: To reach Arunachal Pradesh by air one has to alight at the Lilabari (North Lakhimpur)Airport whichis situated in Assam, 67kms from the capital, Itanagar, and there are direct flights from Kolkata to this destination. There are also helicopter Services available to reach Tawang, from Guwahati in Assam which travel would take around 1 hour 20 minutes.
Rail: Harmuty Railway Station in Assam is the nearest railway station, which is 23 km from Naharlagun and 33 km from Itanagar, while the nearest convenient rail point is North Lakhimpur in Assam,which is 50 km from Naharlagun and 60 km from Itanagar.
Road: Public transport provided by Arunachal Pradesh State Transport Corporation provides facility for one to reach Tawang by road, which runs regular bus-services to various places in Arunachal Pradesh. There are long distance bus services to Itanagarfrom Guwahati, every day, which is about 429 km travel.
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