LEGENDS OF TAWANG MONASTERY

LEGENDS OF TAWANG MONASTERY

Tawang monastery is also known as Galden Namgey Lhatse is located in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh. It was founded by Merak Lama  Lodre Gyatso in 1680-81 in accordance to the wishes of the 5^th Dalai Lama. Tawang monastery is the world’s 2^nd largest monastery after Potala palace.

Tawang monastery belongs to Gelug school of Mahayana Buddhism and has religious association with Drepung monastery of Lhasa, Tibet.

Three legends are narrated to the establishment of the monastery.

In the first legend it is said that location of the present Monastery was was selected by a horse which belonged to Merak Lama who was on a mission assigned to him by the 5^th Dalai Lama to establish a Monastery. After an intense search, when he failed to locate a suitable place, he retired into a cave to offer prayers seeking divine intervention to choose the site, When he came out of the cave, he found he found his horse missing. He went in search of the horse and finally found it grazing at the top of a mountain called Tana Mandekhang, which was the palace of King Kala Wangpo. He took this as a divine and auspicious guidance and decided to establish the monastery at that very location. Seeking the help of the local people, Merak Lama established the monastery at that location in the later part of 1681. Name Tawang derived from two words Ta means Horse and Wang means Chosen.

The second legend of the derivation of the name Tawang is linked to Terton Pemalingpa, diviner of the treasures. At this location, he stated to have given “initiations” of Tamdin and Kagyad, which resulted in the name Tawang. Ta from Tamdin and Wang means initiation.

According to the third legend, a white horse of the prince of Lhasa had wandered into Monpa region. People, who went in search of the horse found the horse grazing at the present location of the Tawang monastery. The people of that area then worshipped the horse and the location and venerated it every year. Eventually, to honor the sacred site, the Tawang Monastery was built at that site.

TAWANG MONASTERY

TAWANG MONASTERY

Tawang monastery is located in small town Tawang in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh and it is the 2^nd largest monastery after the Potala palace in Lhasa, Tibet.

Tawang monastery is known as “Tawang Galden Namgey Lhatse”. Ta means Horse, Wang means Chosen so, literally tawang means chosen by horse.  Galden means Paradise, Namgey means Celestial and Lhatse means Divine. All together it means “ Site chosen by the horse is the celestial divine paradise”.

It was founded by Merak Lama Lodre Gyatso in 1680-1681 in accordance to the wishes of the 5^th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso. Monastery belongs to the Gelug school of Mahayana Buddhism and had a religious association with Drepung monastery of Lhasa in Tibet.

Monastery is three stories high and is bounded by 282 mtrs long compound wall, with in the complex there are 65 residential buildings. The library of the monastery has valuable old scriptures and idols.

Monastery is situated at the top of the mountain, at an elevation of about 10,000 ft. with view of the Tawang river valley, which comprises snow capped mountains and coniferous forest. Monastery is bounded by steep ravines on Southern and Western flanks, Narrow spur on Northern flank and gently sloping ground on Eastern flank.

Monastery is entered from the Northern direction along the sloping spur and through alpine vegetations. The monastery is built like a large mansion and is three storied with a large assemble hall, ten other functional structures and with 65 residential quarters for students, Lamas and monks. The monastery has a school and its own water supply facility and a centre for Buddhist cultural studies.

The rituals and dances are performed at the ground floor. The walls of the monastery also have a profusion of thangkas of Buddhist deities and saints. Curtains are suspended over the balcony and these are painted with Buddhist symbols. Within the precincts of the monastery there are residential buildings to accommodate about 700 monks, which now houses 450 monks.

On the walls of the front porch on the ground floor is a footprint on a stone slab. It is said that this footprint belongs to a resident of the monastery, who was a water carrier, known as chitenpa. This footprint is venerated as a miracle in view of a belief among the people of the region that such an imprint on a stone slab could only be created by a divine person who was a true devotee of the monastery.

The main temple or Dukhang is to the west of the entry gate. Du means assembly and Khang means building. It was built in 1860-1861. A large Idol of Buddha of 18 feet high is deified; it is gilded and decorated and it is in a lotus position. This image is on the Northern face of the assembly hall and is installed over a platform and its head extends up to the first floor. Next to Buddha idol there is a silver casket which holds a special thangka of the goddess Sro Devi, which is the guardian deity of the monastery. It is said that it was painted with the blood drawn from the nose of 5^th Dalai Lama. This thangka image is also known as Dri Devi, was donated to the monastery by the 5^th Dalai Lama. The main temple was renovated in traditional Buddhist architectural style in 2002 and has been exquisitely decorated with paintings, murals, carvings, sculptures etc.