TAWANG MONASTERY

About:

• Location: It is located in Tawang city of Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh. Tezpur Airport is the nearest airport at a road distance of 350 kilometres.
  
  
• Size: It is the largest monastery in India and second largest in the world after the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet.
  
  
• Name: Tawang Monastery is known in Tibetan as Gaden Namgyal Lhatse, which translates to "celestial paradise in a clear night."
  
  
• History: It was in 1680-1681 in accordance with the wishes of the 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (1617–1682).
  
  
• Religion: It belongs to the Gelug school of Mahayana Buddhism.
  
  
• Architecture and other features:
  • The monastery is triple storied with a large assembly hall, ten other functional structures and with 65 residential quarters for students, Lamas and monks.
    
    
  • The main temple in the monastery is known as the Dukhang.