Arunachal Part 7

Arunachal Part 7#tawanbudhhapark#tawangbudhhastatue#tawangwarmemorial#arunachal
What is the Speciality of Buddha Park in Tawang?
It was constructed between 2006 and 2013, and features a 130-foot-high (40 m) statue of the Buddha, erected to mark the 2550th anniversary of the birth of Gautama Buddha, as its main attraction. The statue, built of 60 tonnes of copper, is an example of repousse work. Mount Narsing forms the backdrop to the statue.
Tawang war memorial is in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. The war memorial is a Buddhist shrine build to honor the Indian martyrs who sacrificed their lives during the Indo - China war in the year of 1962. The Tawang war memorial is a 40-foot high multi-hued memorial. The Tawang war memorial is located 1 kilometer away from the Tawang town. The transportation services are easily accessible from Tawang town to reach Tawang war memorial. The Tawang war memorial is one of the places to visit in Tawang. The travelers or visitors can spot the names of soldiers who sacrificed their lives during the war. The names are written on granite plates, 2420 in number, who sacrificed their lives during the war at the Kameng sector. The Tawang war memorial has been designed using Buddhist architectural and cultural elements. The memorial has also used the prayer flags and wheels, dragons, colorful serpents and many more. The local people from Tawang have also donated some of the ornamental decorations as a tribute to the soldiers. One can even witness the statue of Lord Buddha in the interior of the Tawang war memorial. The Tawang war memorial is also known as Namgyal Chorten.
The stupa is surrounded by several prayer flags including National Flag, the Army Flag, the Air Force Flag as well as the flags of the 27 other regiments that fought in the war. The Tawang war memorial is also surrounded by mountains covered with snow, the hills and the visitors can view 360 degrees from the Tawang war memorial ground. The Tawang war memorial has two major halls and one of the halls is a museum where all the belongings of the martyrs are kept and the other half is used as an auditorium. The auditorium is fixed with sound and light where the show is organized and it takes you back to the days of the war. One can also see many walls - mounted photographs of the brave soldiers. The weapons and the tanks used by the armies of India and China during the war can also be seen in the Tawang war memorial. As a memento one can buy many things from the gift shop.
Ugyenling or Urgelling monastery has been the celebrated birthplace of the Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso. It lies about 5 kilometers to the south of the Tawang town in the north eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is surrounded by the Himalayas and the Tawang-Chu valley.
Urgelling Gonpa was built around 1487 by Ugyen Zangpo, the youngest brother of Terton Pema Lingpa, the great treasure revealer. In addition to Ugyenling he is credited with founding two other Nyingma Gonpas, Sangyeling and Tsogyeling, in its vicinity. It is here that the 6th Dalai Lama was born to Tashi Tenzin, a direct descendant of Ugyen Zangpo and Tsewang Lhamo of Royal family of Berkhar. The Monastery has been the residence of the Buddhist monks and Lamas following the Lamaistic tradition of Buddhism and is considered as one of the sacred monasteries, particularly after the birth of the sixth Dalai Lama.
Buddhism strongly believes in reicarnations and rebirths. Every Dalai Lama is reincarnation of his previous existence. It is believed that the 6th Dalai Lama was born in the present Urgelling Gompa at Tawang.
At present the Gompa consists of a structure which is considered the birth place of His Holiness, the sixth Dalai Lama way back in 1683, a few religious structures and a tree, with multiple trunks. A plaque describing the place says that the sixth Dalai Lama, before leaving this place for Tibet, planted his walking stick and predicted that he would visit this place again when the three tree trunks , out of this stick, would be of equal height. They believe that the trunks attained equal height but in 1959 one of the trunks got broken due to strong wind and the present Dalai Lama came to Tawang, after his escape from Tibet and visited this place.
People of Tawang strongly believe in this legend and get strength out of it. The place presently is beautiful.