ARUNACHAL PRADESH

ARUNACHAL PRADESH

Mysterious…………
Magical……..

Mystical………….


Arunachal Pradesh, formerly known as NEFA (North East Frontier Alliance) is now becoming a hot tourist destination among the people in India as well as abroad. Situated at the north of Assam it is well connected to the rest of India by air; one has to reach there via Guwahati or Jorethang which are well connected to Arunachal via metalled road. One can come to Guwahati rail station by train also from different corners of the country.

We reach Guwahati on 30th December 2007 by train from Howrah station, Calcutta. It was late morning and the weather was perfect for a long road drive. We started for Bhalukpong, the first halt before entering Arunachal where our I.L.P. (Inner Line Permit ) would be checked for the first time. One has to arrange these I.L.P. to travel and stay throughout Arunachal Pradesh. As we reached Bhalukpong it was evening and our driver cum guide Tashi said we had to stay in some guest house for that night & had to proceed for Bomdilla next morning.

According to the plan we headed for Bomdilla next morning after having breakfast. On the way we drove over Sela Pass the 3rd highest motorable path in the world ( apprx. 17800ft.

(sea-level). The gateway to Sela ( picture above ) leads to Tawang. Just behind the gateway there was the P.T.Tso ( paradise lake ) lake that remains frozen most of the year particularly in winter season. After spending a few minutes near Sela Pass and recharging ourselves we headed for Tawang. On the way we visited a war memorial near Sela.

Tawang is the headquarter of Tawang district and one can find a surprising similarity in the people of Tawang with that of Tibet, which is now forcefully ruled & taken under by China. The great Dalai Lama fled Tibet to avoid humiliation in the hand of Chinese Government & reached Tawang where he was welcomed by then prime minister of India Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru. Tawang remains flooded by tourists all throughout the year due to its historical and geographical importance. Mainly dominated by Buddhism, Tawang is home of the famous “Tawang Monastery”.

The statue of Lord Buddha, gold plated, is revered by all the people irrespective of their religious belief. The monastery follows the “Geluk-Pa” sect of Mahayana line of Buddhism. It houses around 450 monks ( including young & trainee lamas ). I was lucky to have a chat with few of them.

The dancing Lamas…

After visiting the monastery I went to the office of district magistrate of Tawang to arrenge the border permission signed by D.M. & Brig. of Army in charge in Tawang. It was a gruesome experience to get the job done as officials there had a laid back attitude & would take hours to complete some formalities that should take just a few minutes otherwise!! Next morning we headed for Bum-La with all the required papers in our possession. On the way we visited the “Madhuri Lake” ( the location was named after Madhuri Dixit Indian actress in the film “Koyla” ), heart-shaped lake, Sangrail lake etc. Most of them were partly covered in ice during winter. We had seen the military persons clearing up thick dens snow from the road towards Bum-La. We had to trek the last few miles as our Tata Sumo couldn’t managed to roll over the thick ice. The ice was so thick that we couldn’t see the road under our foot. Anyway as we reached there the army personnel were surprised as well as very happy to see us.

We visited the Line of Actual Control (known as Macmohan Line), the conference room where Indian & Chinese Govt. delegates used to meet twice in a year.

The stone marked with a red “WELCOME” marked the end of Indian territory & beginning of Chinese territory besides the Tawang-Lhasa highway was a symbol for “thus fur and no further”.

We were welcomed by the soldiers in the last sentry with hot drinking water, tasty pakora and tea (made with yak’s milk). After recharging our fuel we climbed down and drove back to Tawang. On the way we visited the “Ani’s Gompa”, some other small Gompas & Buddhist temples.
The next day we headed for Dirang, the first capital of Tawang when it was an integral part of independent Tibet. One of the interesting places in Dirang was the Dzong (prison cell for the criminals in those days) where prisoners were tied to pillars all the periods and were allowed to untie only when the food were supplied to them. That place was under supervisions of Archeological Survey of India.

Dirang was a picture perfect village with a calm & quiet surrounds. After spending a day we headed for Bomdilla again. It was even chilling than our first stay there.

The next day we drove for Itanagar from Bomdilla, on the way we visited the Itanagar monastery, Itanagar fort, Assembly of Itanagar, Itanagar Museums etc. One can find all the historical evidences of Arunachal Pradesh in the Itanagar Museum.

We had to show our I.L.P.s at each & every check post & even in hotel. There was nothing more to explore in Itanagar, capitol of Arunachal Pradesh. Next we headed for Ziro, district headquarter of Lower Subansiri District & home for Apatani tribes. Apatanis were considered the most educated & advanced tribes among all.
We visited Daporijo, the district headquarter of Upper Subansiri District & the home for tribes like Tagin, Miri, Adi Galo, Galo, Niyshing etc. Most of them earn their livelihood by hunting & agriculture. These tribals were converted to Christianity & were introduced to the modern world recently, though they exercise their tribal religion within their village & community.

The hunter from Nyishing Tribes

As we reached Aalong ( Aalo), the district headquarter of West Siang, there were preparation for “Siang Festival” running on the full gear. This festival was considered as one of the famous festivals in the land & delegates came from abroad like China, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia etc. The participants & visitors were welcomed with local made bear served in thick bamboo straw. Aalong was the place famous for the ‘sangam sthall’ of the river Siang (down in Assam it’s known as Brahmaputra) with Dihing & Lohit rivers & formed the mighty Brahmaputra down the inclination.
After spending the whole day in the festival sight we prepared to move to Pashighat, district headquarter of East Siang.

We booked a steamer boat from Pashighat to Dibrugarh to catch the flight back home, but we later on drove to Jorehat and boarded on a Calcutta bound Jet Airways flight, as the flight from Dibrugarh was cancelled on a technical ground. The journey in the steamer boat over the Brahmaputra river from Pashighat to Dibrugarh was really mesmerizing and we didn’t even realize the hectic of the journey at all.
Arunachal is the home for the tribes like Monpa ( in Tawang, Bomdila, Dirang), Nyishi ( in Itanagar, Ziro, Daporijo), Galo, Adi Galo, Minyong ( in Aalo/Aalong, Pashighat), Apatani (in Ziro, Daporijo ) etc. They all have their own identities, culture, believes, ethics and anyone can find those interesting.

The place was under President’s rule under the first proclamation of Emergency under Article 352 by president on 26th October 1962 in the view of the Chinese aggression in the region. President’s rule under Article 356 in the Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh for the first time was imposed on 3rd November, 1979 and continued upto 18th January 1980.
Formerly known as NEFA (North Eastern Frontier Agency) since 1954 it was under administrative control of the state of Assam. In 1971, under the North East Reorganization Act the administrative control over NEFA by Assam was carved out & the name NEFA was renamed as Arunachal Pradesh, as suggested by Shri B. Das Shastri, & formally announced by Late Mrs. Indira Gandhi, then prime minister of India, on 20th January 1972 at Ziro while inaugurating the union territory of Arunachal Pradesh.

One has to contact the Arunachal Bhavan for the I.L.P.s required to enter Arunachal. Their offices are situated at Calcutta, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Itanagar, Bomdila.