Famous Temples in India

Architecture

Built as a large mansion, it is an abode for over 300 monks. Lying amidst the Himalayan ranges, it offers a breathtaking view of the Tawang-Chu valley. The group is 3 stories high. it’s b by a 925 feet (282 m) long compound divider. inside the progressed, there square measure sixty-five private structures. The three-storeyed building was founded by Merak Lama Lodre Gyamtso to complete the wish of Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso. The main temple, Dukhang, boasts of magnificent interiors with beautiful artwork while the inner walls contain sketches and paintings of Bodhisattvas. The library is stocked with valuable old scriptures like Kangyur and Tengyur. All other primary structures have the traditional style of Buddhist architecture which will make you swoon. The great rotating prayer wheels, priceless thangkas, the drone of monks in prayer, sputtering butter lamps are an evocative vision. The Tawang Monastery has a residential building for the monks, a library, a museum, and a school for basic education. Pierced atop a hill dominating everything around and below it is an enormous yellow-roofed Tawang monastery which was originally a large and fortified complex strategically sited where the caravan routes from Tibet, Bhutan and West Kameng met.

Entrance and outer walls - At the entrance to the monastery there is colourful gate structure, known as the Kakaling, which is built in the shape of a "hut-like structure", with side walls built of stone masonry. The roof of the Kakaling features mandalas, while the interior walls have murals of divinities and saints painted on them. A distinctive mural, the ninth mural from the southwest west corner of the southern wall, is of Ningmecahn, the protector deity of the Bon religion, who is considered the guardian deity of the Tawang region. Ahead of the main gate of the Kakaling, to its south, is another entry, an open gate. The main entrance to the monastery, to the south of the open gate, has massive doors fitted on the northern wall. This outer wall is 925 feet (282 m) in length, with heights varying from about 10–20 feet (3.0–6.1 m). Apart from the main gate, the southern side of the monastery has another entry gate, which also has a massive door. Nearer to the gate, there are two small openings in the wall which provide the complete view of the exterior part of the eastern wall that connects to the Kakaling. According to a legend, the 5th Dalai Lama had given a roll of thread to be bound around the walls of the monastery to denote the extent to which the monastery should be built.

Main buildings - The monastery, built like a large mansion, is triple storied with a large assembly 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 ground floor of the monastery is where ritual dances are performed. 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. The abbot of the monastery resides in a house located near the gate at the southeastern corner of the monastery

A notable feature on the wall of the front porch on the ground floor is a footprint on a stone slab. It is said that this footprint belonged to a resident of the monastery, who was a water carrier, known as Chitenpa. He served in the monastery for a long time and on one fine day he announced that he had completed his service to the monastery and then stamped his left foot on the stone slab which created a dented formation of his step. This step 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.