Arunachal Pradesh Brahma Dung Chung Ani Gompa
Brahma-dung-chungAniGompais about 8 km distance from Tawangtownship, which is considered one of the oldest AniGompas of this region situated in the northern part of Tawang.This nunnery hosts about 45 nuns of Buddhist faith, who are also called Anis.
Tawang City in which location Brahma-dung-chungAniGompa is established, 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 from Brahma-dung-chungAniGompa, Tawang district houses few Monasteries, such as Urgelling Monastery, Righyalling Monastery and Taksang Monastery, apart from Tawang Monastery, which is called GaldenNamgyalLhaste. As for nunneries, Tawangdistrict hasthree AniGompas, which are SingsorAniGompa, GyandongAniGompa and SingsurAniGompa.
Founded By
Brahma-dun-chungAniGompa was established by a Lama called KarchenYeshiGelek, who hails from the Tsang Province of Tibet.
This AniGompa is managed by the Tawang Monastery, taking care of 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 are very impressive and reminding one 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.
Description
Buddhist monasteries and Gompas are places of worship and meditation by people who follow Buddhist faith, while Monasteries will have residential accommodation for the for the members of the particular religious settlement, Gompas would be just a prayer or meditation hall where Monks or Anis would sit around the Image of Lord Buddha and do meditation.
While Monasteries will be accommodating Buddhist monks, AniGompas are intended for female participants of the faith, Brahma-dung-chungAniGompa is one such settlement.
Attractions Nearby
Tawang is a very admirable location for tourism in the North east, as it is endowed with richness of nature apart from a number of Monasteries and AniGompas exist here which are impressively conducted and administered.
TawangWar memorial is the foremost of the attractions around Brahma-dung-chungAniGompa, which is a 40 feet tall multi hued construction, which is designed in a Stupa syle, dedicated to the Martyrs of Indo Chinese War of 1962.
Next comes the Tawang Monastery which is the largest among the Lamaseries of Mahayana Sect. This Monastry is also called Golden NamgyalLhatse and it is considered the second largest Monastery in the world, the first being one in Lhasa. This monastery manages 17 Gompas in the region and is about 400 year old.
Visitors of Brahma-dung-chungAniGompa must go to Sela Pass, a mountainous spot at a height of 13,714 ft, which is the most popular place in Arunachal Pradesh .
Another mountain here is JaswantGarh, located in about 21 km from the Sela Pass mountain, in the direction of Tawang. This mount is named after a brave warrior who fought continuously for 72 hours during Chinese war and attained Martyrdom.
For the Shopping interested persons there are a few market places, the prominent among them is Craft Centre where one can procure rare items of craftsmanship of Arunachal Pradesh, particularly the closths with Monpas masks made in the traditional way by the craftsmen of this area are very famous.
Bap Teng Kang is one of the panoramic water falls of this area, falling from a height of 100 ft in Yumkhang, which is located in 85 km from Tawang in the Zemithang direction.
Shonga-tser Lake is another attraction which is located in about 42 km from Tawang, which has also become famous because of film shootings. In fact, after a film shooting this lake is now being referred as Madhuri Lake.
Likewise, the visitor to Brahma-dung-chungAniGompa has variety of attraction in and around Tawang in the form of hills, water falls, monasteries, etc.
How to Reach
Air: To reach Tawangin 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.
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