Tawang Monastery Has 65 Residential Buildings Inside a 925-Foot Wall at About 10,000 Feet, and the Sela Tunnel Dedicated on 9 March 2024 Gives It an All-Weather Road

Tawang Monastery stands on a hill at about 10,000 feet in the far west of Arunachal Pradesh, and Incredible India, the Ministry of Tourism’s site, calls it the largest monastery in India. The road to it from Tezpur in Assam crosses the Sela Pass, and on 9 March 2024 the Prime Minister dedicated the Border Roads Organisation’s Sela Tunnel, which the Press Information Bureau says gives Tawang all-weather connectivity.

Founded at the wish of the 5th Dalai Lama

Arunachal Pradesh Tourism says the monastery was founded in 1680 to 1681 by Merak Lama Lodre Gyatso. The Central Tibetan Administration’s website gives the same dates and adds that he built it in line with the wishes of the 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso. Incredible India is less exact. It says the 17th century, and describes Merak Lama as working on a mission assigned by the 5th Dalai Lama.

One history site, Live History India, estimates construction at 1643 to 1647 and says the exact date is not known. The official pages that give a year all give 1680 to 1681.

The monastery belongs to the Gelug school, the Yellow Hat order, according to the district administration’s culture page. Its Tibetan name is Gaden Namgyal Lhatse, which Incredible India translates as “the divine paradise of complete victory”. The district page renders it differently, as “celestial paradise in a clear night”.

The town’s name has its own explanation on the district website. “Ta” means horse and “Wang” means chosen, and the district page tells the story that Merak Lama followed a missing horse to the hill where the monastery now stands and took it as an auspicious sign.

A compound of 65 residential buildings

Incredible India describes a three-storey monastery inside a compound wall 925 feet (282 metres) long, with 65 residential buildings. The stone entrance gate is called the Kakaling. The page says the library fills the entire second floor and holds the Kangyur and Tengyur collections of Buddhist scripture, along with other texts, some of them damaged by insects. A printing press in the complex uses locally made paper and wooden blocks. The page lists opening hours of 7 am to 7 pm.

Arunachal Pradesh Tourism names the Dukhang, the main assembly hall, as the home of a gilded Buddha about 25 feet high, and says a museum stands near the back gate. Other writers give other heights for the statue. Outlook Traveller says 26 feet, and Live History India says 18 feet, so the figure is best treated as approximate.

The count of monks is also loose. Outlook Traveller says the monastery has housed up to 500 lamas at a time, and Live History India says it has accommodation for as many as 500. Neither gives a census.

The “largest in India” ranking rests on the Incredible India page. No page we opened states which measure was used, whether buildings, floor area or monks.

For another high-altitude monastery with a documented founding year, our guide to Spiti covers Tabo, founded in 996.

The sixth Dalai Lama’s birthplace and the 1959 route

The district administration lists Urgelling Monastery, which it dates to the 15th century, as the birthplace of the 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso. The Office of the Dalai Lama also records Tawang as his birthplace.

The current Dalai Lama’s connection is documented in the Office’s report of his visit on 7 and 8 April 2017. It says the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh told the audience that the Dalai Lama crossed the border at Kenzamani in early April 1959, that Tawang was the first Indian soil to receive him, and that Tawang Monastery was where he gave his first Buddhist teaching after arriving. The Dalai Lama said he remembered passing through the region in 1959 fondly, and that once across the border he felt free of risk and danger.

The 2017 teaching ground, called Yiga Choezin, drew an estimated 50,000 people, according to the Office. During the visit he stayed in rooms at the top of the Dukhang.

Torgya, Losar and the Choekhor harvest ritual

The district page names three festivals tied to the monastery and the Monpa people who live around it. Losar is the Tibetan New Year. Torgya is a monastic festival of masked cham dances performed by lamas to ward off evil spirits and invite peace. Choekhor is a post-harvest ritual in which villagers carry sacred scriptures across their fields.

North East Now reported on 23 January 2023 that Torgya ran from 20 to 22 January that year and begins on the 28th day of the 11th lunar month. Because it follows the lunar calendar, the Gregorian dates shift from year to year, and the district page gives none. Arunachal Pradesh Tourism adds that the Dungyur festival is held every third year during Torgya, also at the monastery.

Sela and the tunnel

Sela Pass is the gateway to Tawang. Incredible India puts it at over 13,700 feet, and the Office of the Dalai Lama gives 4,170 metres. The Press Information Bureau’s 2019 release on the foundation stone called the snow-covered top dangerous and said the tunnel would let travellers avoid it.

The Sela Tunnel project has two tunnels. A Ministry of Defence release of 22 January 2022 describes Tunnel 1 as 980 metres long, a single tube, and Tunnel 2 as 1,555 metres long, a twin tube with one two-lane tube for traffic and one escape tube for emergencies. A 7 km approach road leads to Tunnel 1, and a 1.3 km link road joins the two. The release says Tunnel 2 was broken through on 14 October 2021 and the last excavation blast on Tunnel 1 came on 22 January 2022, in bad weather and heavy snow.

The foundation stone was laid on 9 February 2019 and construction began on 1 April 2019. The Press Information Bureau’s release of 9 March 2024 says the tunnel was completed in five years, at a total cost of Rs 825 crore, on the Balipara-Charduar-Tawang road at 13,000 feet, using the New Austrian Tunnelling Method. The same release says it provides all-weather connectivity to Tawang and supports the armed forces and the development of the border region. For comparison with another Border Roads Organisation tunnel, see our account of the Atal Tunnel.

The 2019 release had set a different plan: Rs 687 crore, completion in about three years, and two tunnels of 1,790 and 475 metres, with a saving of more than one hour from Tezpur to Tawang. The 2022 and 2024 releases give the later figures. The state’s own profile is in our guide to Arunachal Pradesh.

Getting there

The district administration’s page lists Guwahati airport at about 480 km from Tawang, Itanagar’s Donyi Polo Airport at about 440 km and Tezpur Airport at about 330 km, with regional flights only to Tezpur. By road from Guwahati or Tezpur the route runs through Bhalukpong, Bomdila, Dirang, Sela Pass and Jang, and the page gives 14 to 16 hours of driving. It suggests an overnight stop at Bomdila or Dirang to adjust to the altitude before crossing Sela. Helicopter services run from Guwahati in about 55 to 60 minutes and from Naharlagun near Itanagar, on designated days and only in clear weather.

Permits and season, as checked on 28 October 2026

Arunachal Pradesh Tourism says Indian citizens apply for an electronic Inner Line Permit, and that a tourist permit covers stays of up to 14 days, with longer stays needing a provisional permit. Children under 14 need no individual permit but must travel with an adult. Foreign nationals apply for a Protected Area Permit or Restricted Area Permit. The state’s eILP portal went live statewide on 17 November 2022 and lists the Tourist-eILP support team’s hours as 10 am to 4 pm on weekdays. Two sections of the tourism circuit page describe permit duties slightly differently, so confirm the current rule on the portal before booking.

The district website describes March to June as pleasant, with daytime temperatures of 5 to 21 degrees Celsius. July to September brings frequent rain and occasional landslides, with temperatures of 5 to 15 degrees. October to February brings severe cold and heavy snow, and the page says Sela Pass may close temporarily when snow builds up. Arunachal Pradesh Tourism advises snow chains or nylon ropes for private vehicles on Sela in winter.

The district website says the administration is not liable for delays caused by adverse weather, and tells visitors to check live weather and permit status before leaving.