Itanagar,
the capital of Arunachal Pradesh, is a beautiful historic city, also
known as 'the Land of the Dawn lit Mountains'. It is located to the
east of Tawang and has been identified with Mayapur, a city of the
14th or 15th century A.D. The new township has modern buildings,
bazaars and traditional homesteads. Important attractions include old
brick fort (Itafort), Buddhist Monastery, Jawaharlal Nehru Museum,
Ganga Lake (Geykar Sinyi) and Zoo. Elevation of 190 mtrs is Tipi, an
orchidarium with over 7500 orchids. On display are some of the finest
species with names like the dainty lady's slipper or the more formal
sounding Denfrobium, Arunachal has the largest range of orchids in
India and at Tipi, scientist are creating new, hybrid species using
the latest techniques of biotechnology another 40 km is the orchid
park at Sessa.
The
journey onwards is the most adventurous and perhaps the most difficult
as Bomdila, the headquarters of the west kameng District is at a
height of 2,530 mtrs, offering wonderful panoramic views of Himalayan
landscape and snow clad ranges. The scenery is spectacular but there
is a tingling sense of fear too-it is a long way down.
There
are apple orchards and buddhist monasteries for travelers are now
entering an area that has had strong Tibetan and Buddhist influence
over the centuries. The area has many Buddhist monasteries called
gompas and there is also a crafts center producing very carpets of
colourful designs. Around the area are good trails for trekking
enthusiasts.
A 10 km drive from Bomdils takes you to Tawang
a Buddhist pilgrimage site where the Dalai Lama the spiritual leader
of the tibetans goes to preach and pray. The most striking building in
this buddhist village is the tall central monastery the Tawang Gompa.
The 400- year- old monastery dominates the valley with a
grand view of the Himalayas. The Tibetan influence here is
unmistakable, with the elaborately painted wooden windows and other
motifs prayer flags flutter in the breeze and inside the monks there
are some 500 light lamps, rush about their chores and drone in point
prayer. An 8- mtr high gilded statue of the Buddha is here as are
Nemours ancient thanks or traditional paintings and manuscripts.
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