Heart Skips A Beat @Arunachal Pradesh

So, after a considerable pause due to my Goa trip, I have resorted to blogging again! Thank you, everyone, for the patience…

I know … I know you have been anticipating a blog on GOA as of now, but before going to GOA, I thought I would make an account of places I have visited in the past (and also partly because the GOA trip wasn’t really a said blast and I had to cut short the trip because of the rains.😓)

However, whilst talking about Arunachal Pradesh Lets talk just about it and then we shall rub salt on the Goa trip when I cover that story...

To those of you who are geographically impaired and still think that our northeastern states count to the number seven since they are called seven sisters, let me burst the bubble for you by telling you that we have actually 8 northeastern states! Viz Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura.

Arunachal Pradesh is accounted to be the northeasternmost state of the country sharing international borders with Bhutan, Myanmar and the disputed mac Mohan line with China. And domestic borders with Assam and Nagaland

I am sticking a generic Indian map so that you can better locate Arunachal Pradesh while trying very hard not to sound like a geography book!

Now, that we have established where Arunachal Pradesh is, I will account for a brief story of my travel on the land of Arunachal Pradesh. Being a mountaineer obviously the mountains attracted but I tried to touch around most of the tourist attractions there.

ENJOY!

BOMDILA:-

(Life in Bomdila)

I started off from Guwahati in Assam and landed myself on BOMDILA in Arunachal Pradesh.

. Bomdila is a remote village in Arunachal Pradesh known for its scenic beauty and the lofty mountain ranges of the eastern Himalayas that surrounds it. Bomdila is also famous for its apple orchid and hence is responsible as to why Arunachal Pradesh is also called orchid land. Despite its scenic beauty, attractive mountain ranges and Buddha monastery, Bomdila remains to be remote because somewhere around 1873 this area was declared off-limits by the British government and upon independence was disputed territory for over 20 years with China. The tension sure did contribute to its remoteness but couldn’t hamper its heaven-like beauty.

(Bomdila)

TAWANG:-

(Tawang Gate)

After a soul cleansing trek on the eastern Himalayan ranges of Bomdila, I headed toward TAWANG. The word Tawang it self-means landlocked and Tawang is in fact land locked by Tibet and Bhutan. The main attraction of TAWANG is the Tawang Galden Namgyal Lhatse or the TAWANG MONASTERY,

(Tawang Monastery)

Twang Monastery is the spiritual capital and is said to have been picked and blessed by the white stallion. The monastery was heavily damaged during the Chinese invasion of 1962 and the restoration still continues but the beauty stands undebated.

(Little Monks)

SELA PASS  and  BUMLA PASS:-

(SE LA)

Basically, LA itself means PASS so appropriately they can be called SE-LA and BUM-LA! SE LA is one of the highest elevation passes (13,700 ft) of India. SE LA connects the district (Tawang)  with rest of the civilization.

 SE LA gets heavy snowfalls and hence is most of the times closed but all the same is sacred to the Tibetans. A total of 101 lakes are said to be around SE LA and BUM LA and are held in highest reverence by the Buddhist community there. SE LA  is also known for have been guarded by the legendary JASWANT SINGH RAWAT during the Sino-India War. Jaswant Garh War Memorial

is an embodiment of  his bravery situated roughly 25 kilometers from Tawang in Nuranang district and happens to a buzzing tourist attraction too

(War Memorial)

BUM LA like SE LA does hold religious sentiments due to the 101 lakes but was more of a trade way between India and China. However, this pass also witnessed devastation during the Sino Indian war and became a passage of Chinese invasion into India. Later, BUM LA became the passage for Dalai Lama into India during the war.

(Bum La)

MADHURI LAKE  and  MADHURI FALLS:- 

While we are still on the topic of 101 lakes, one of the lakes completely stands out from the lot and its SANGSTER LAKE, also known as TSO LAKE. Again TSO itself means lake so a more appropriate address would be SANGSTER TSO.  However, it is famous as Madhuri lake as this lake was where some of the scenes from the movie KOYALA  starring Madhuri Dixit and Shahrukh Khan as shot.

(Madhuri Lake)

 JUNG FALL is called Madhuri falls for the same reason, as the song Tanhai from the same movie was shot around this place. Fed by Alpine lake MADHURI FALLS is a sight that makes a space in the hearts of travelers for eternity.

(Jung Fall)

I also stopped by CHAG-ZAM BRIDGE. The local tales has it that this bridge has some magical powers that help smooth passage of the dead to the ulterior world.

(Chag Zam)

DIRANG:-

The return journey was overwhelming for me. As a mountaineer, I naturally seek habitat around mountains and Arunachal beauty had already struck me like a pretty girl across the hall with whom Bollywood heroes fall in love at first sight. 

(Dirang Monastery)

However I had to return and I took the way out from DIRANG, a small village in  West Kameng district known for its beauty among the tourist. Dirang is also known for its yak research center and hot springs. And most importantly it's mountaineering institute.


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CIAO!