Tawang Town

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?Tawang Arunachal Pradesh • India
Tawang
Coordinates: 27°35′N 91°52′E / 27.58, 91.87
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	• 2,669 m (8,757 ft)
District(s)	Tawang
Population	4,456 (2001)

Coordinates: 27°35′N 91°52′E / 27.58, 91.87 Tawang (Tibetan: རྟ་དབང་; Wylie: Rta-dbang) is a small town situated at an elevation of approximately 3048 meters (10,000 feet) in the northwestern part of Arunachal Pradesh. The town once served as the district headquarters of West Kameng district, and became the district headquarters of Tawang district when it was formed from West Kameng.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Tourism
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Geography

Tawang town is located approximately 555 km (344.86 miles) from Guwahati. Tawang is located at 27.58° N 91.87° E.^[1] It has an average elevation of 2669 metres (8756 feet).

[edit] Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[2] Tawang had a population of 4456. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Tawang has an average literacy rate of 63%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 70%, and female literacy is 55%. In Tawang, 17% of the population is under 6 years of age.

[edit] Tourism

The Tawang Monastery of the Gelugpa sect in Tawang town was built by the Mera Lama in 1681. This monastery is one of the largest in the country.

Travelling to the place requires special Inner Area permits from the government and is available in Kolkata or Guwahati. Most of the travel from the plains is on a high hill journey and one needs to cross Sela Pass (13700 feet).

Bhalukpung Orchid sanctury houses thousands of varieties of orchids.

Tourist can travel from Tezpur, Assam (12 hrs by road)it has direct flights from Kolkata or Guwahati, Assam (16 hrs by road) which has both the Railways and the Flights on daily basis.

Tawang is accessible from Tezpur, Assam, via buses, private taxis and shared taxis. The arduous (most of the road is broken tarmac and gravel giving way to mud in many places) but scenic journey is nearly 12 hours long, crossing Bomdila (8000 feet), peaking at Sela Pass (13700 feet), Jaswant Garh and then, finally, Tawang. Government buses often break down (usually on the way up) and passengers end up hitchhiking in private cars and taxis. En route one can sample local food especially meat/vegetable momos and cream buns. Hilarious road safety signs by the Border Roads Organisation keeps one entertained throughout the journey.