Arunachal Pradesh Singsor Ani Gompa
Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh is known for its nunneries referred as AniGompas, among which SingsorAniGompa is one. This nunnery is located in a distance of 28 km on the way to Geshila, in the west of Tawang district headquarters, hosting about 30 Buddhist nuns.
This AniGompa is managed by theTawang Monastery, providing assistance for the day to day needs of the nuns and for the monastery administration. The nunnery’s location and the rituals followed by the nuns here would bring one the nostalgic memory of the bygone era, when Buddhism was propagated through sermons done in a calm and serene environment, under the shades of a tree.
This nunnery like many others provides facility for nuns to live and the girl children join on their own to observe self-devoted lives.
History
The newSingsorAniGompa Nunnery was constructed in the year 1960, by Rev.GonpatseRimpoche while the Old AniGompa is also maintained and this is located among the Shaa of nuns.
Traditionally at least one girl from every family joins the AniGompa and this practice is going on for several years.
Tawang City has a rich history, Monpa tribe living in this place centuries before and Mon Kingdom was holding the reigns ruling Tibet and Bhutan region. Buddhism was brought in during 8th Century, by Guru Padmasmbhava and during 18th Century British power made Tawang an important centre of the North East. When 1914 McMohan line was drawn up, Tawang became an Indian city.
Apart fromSingsorAniGompa, Tawang houses few other monasteries, such as Urgelling Monastery, Righyalling Monastery and Taksang Monastery, apart from Tawang Monastery, which is called GaldenNamgyalLhaste. As for nunneries, Tawang houses three AniGompas, which are Brama Dung Ching AniGompa, GyandongAniGompa and SingsurAniGompa.
Architecture
SingsorAniGompa’s architecture is simple hutlike model, but of stone construction, with spacious Hall for doing meditaion and structures for the living quarters.
Festivals
SingsorAniGompa observes a few festivals which are according to Monpa calendar and culture.
- Predominant among the festivals celebrated is the Losar Festival occurring at the break of the Monpa New Year, which is 15-day festival in January/February, the highlight of this festival being the colourful AjiLhamu dance, Yak dance, and also Lion and Peacock dance.
- The Torgya Festival comes next which is a 3-day celebration, signifying the destruction of evil spirit and destructive forces, praying for happiness and prosperit among people.
- The SakaDawafestival which comes in the fourth month of Lunar calendar, marks Buddha’s Nirvana achievement.
- The DupkaTse-Shi Festival which falls in the Lunar Calendar 6thmonth, highlights Buddha’s preaching of the Four Nobel Truths pronounced at Sarnath.
- The LhababDeuchen Festival coming in the Monpa 9thmonth,signifies the reincarnation of Lord Buddha as Shakyamuni.
- To commemorate Tsongkya-pa’s death, the GandenNgamchoe festival is celebrated.Tsongkha-pa is the founder of Gelugpa Sect.
How to Reach
Air: To reachTawangin Arunachal Pradesh by air one has to alight at the Lilabari (North Lakhimpur) Airport which is situated in Assam, 67 kms 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 Itanagar from Guwahati, every day, which is about 429 km travel.
Photo Gallery