Tawang Monastery

monastery, Arunchal Pradesh, India

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July 21, 2026

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Tawang Monastery is a significant Mahayana Buddhist monastery located in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Arunachal Pradesh, meaning "Land of the Rising Sun," is a mountainous state in northeastern India, bordered by Bhutan, China, Myanmar, and the Indian state of Nagaland.1

The monastery, established in the 17th century, is famous for its gold-lettered Buddhist scriptures. It is one of the most important monasteries of the Gelug Tradition and is the largest outside of Lhasa. The monastery complex follows a traditional Tibetan plan, with buildings that show a blend of Tibetan and Han Chinese architectural styles. It houses numerous religious statues and a vast collection of Tibetan Buddhist manuscripts covering subjects like philosophy, medicine, history, and literature.12

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Arunachal Pradesh
Cultural institutions
…Buddhist monasteries and hermitages, while Tawang, in the far-northwestern extremity of Arunachal Pradesh, is famous for its 17th-century Mahayana Buddhist monastery with gold-lettered Buddhist scriptures. Parasuramkund, on the Lohit River in the state’s eastern region, is a place of Hindu pilgrimage where sins can be washed away in the local…
Read More
…Buddhist monasteries and hermitages, while Tawang, in the far-northwestern extremity of Arunachal Pradesh, is famous for its 17th-century Mahayana Buddhist monastery with gold-lettered Buddhist scriptures. Parasuramkund, on the Lohit River in the state’s eastern region, is a place of Hindu pilgrimage where sins can be washed away in the local…
Read More