the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha

Tripoto

day 4 today is about local places to visit in tawang. first stop is the tawang monastery Tawang Monastery, located in Tawang in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, is the largest monastery in India and second largest in the world after the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. at the entrance they have this water feature which rings the bell above it.

Photo of the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha 1/15 by Kamalakar Venigalla

Next to this water feature is this giant prayer bell

Photo of the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha 2/15 by Kamalakar Venigalla
Photo of the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha 3/15 by Kamalakar Venigalla

above is the entrance to the monastery

Photo of the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha 4/15 by Kamalakar Venigalla

kid monks at the monastery

Photo of the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha 5/15 by Kamalakar Venigalla

main courtyard of the monastery. the pole you see in front is cut from a single tree log.

Photo of the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha 6/15 by Kamalakar Venigalla

the monastery in all its glory

Photo of the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha 7/15 by Kamalakar Venigalla

to the left is the museum of the monastery

Photo of the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha 8/15 by Kamalakar Venigalla

big statue of buddha inside the monastery

Photo of the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha 9/15 by Kamalakar Venigalla

large decorations inside the monastery

Photo of the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha 10/15 by Kamalakar Venigalla

view of tawang town from the monastery

Photo of the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha 11/15 by Kamalakar Venigalla
Photo of the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha 12/15 by Kamalakar Venigalla

next place to visit is the ani gompa or nunnery. this is another monastery run by woman monks.

Photo of the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha 13/15 by Kamalakar Venigalla

first entrance to the monastery

Photo of the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha 14/15 by Kamalakar Venigalla

second entrance

Photo of the forgotten worlds - arunachal pradesh and meghalaya - day 4 - tawang monastery, ani gompa, buddha 15/15 by Kamalakar Venigalla

women monk burning fern leaves as an offering and it supposedly has therapeutic uses.